Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Results Show Continued Strength
biz.yahoo.com
Tuesday October 30, 7:00 am ET
VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated (NYSE: RBA)(TSX: RBA) today announced net earnings for the nine months ended September 30, 2007 of $59.0 million, or $1.68 per diluted weighted average share, which is a record nine-month performance for the Company and 24% ahead of earnings for the first nine months of 2006. Net earnings growth in 2007 would have been 27%, had the results for the first nine months of 2006 excluded an after-tax gain of $1.1 million recorded on the sale of surplus property. The Company does not consider these gains to be part of its normal operating results. All dollar amounts are presented in United States dollars.
Gross auction proceeds (which until recently the Company referred to as gross auction sales) for the nine months ended September 30, 2007 were $2.31 billion, a 17% increase over the corresponding period in the prior year and the largest first nine months in the Company's history. Auction revenues for the first nine months of 2007 were $232.0 million, representing growth of 22% compared to the first nine months of 2006. The Company's auction revenue rate (auction revenues as a percentage of gross auction proceeds) was 10.03% for the first nine months of 2007, compared to 9.60% for the same period in 2006.
During the first nine months of 2007, Ritchie Bros. conducted 126 unreserved industrial auctions at locations throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Mexico and Southeast Asia. Thirteen regional gross auction proceeds records were set during the first nine months of 2007.
The Company sold in excess of 197,000 lots from over 25,000 industrial consignments and had more than 183,000 bidder registrations at its industrial auctions during the nine months ended September 30, 2007. The Company's live auctions continued to be enhanced by internet bidding, and in the first nine months of 2007 the Company sold over $426 million worth of trucks and equipment to on-line buyers using the Company's rbauctionBid-Live system. The Company has now sold in excess of $1.5 billion of industrial and agricultural assets over the internet.
Although the Company's auctions have varied in size over the last 12 months, the average Ritchie Bros. industrial auction in the 12 month period ended September 30, 2007 attracted over 1,400 bidder registrations (12 months ended September 30, 2006 - 1,300) and featured around 1,400 lots (12 months ended September 30, 2006 - 1,300) consigned by 193 consignors (12 months ended September 30, 2006 - 179), generating average gross auction proceeds of approximately $15.3 million per auction (12 months ended September 30, 2006 - $14.1 million).
The Company also held 160 unreserved agricultural auctions in the first nine months of 2007, generating gross auction proceeds of $111.0 million, compared to 127 agricultural auctions with gross auction proceeds of $116.8 million in the first nine months of 2006.
During the period ended September 30, 2007, the Company established regional auction units in Hartford, Connecticut and Paris, France. The Company also completed the purchase of land near Paris, France, Kansas City, Missouri and Grande Prairie, Alberta, and intends to construct new permanent auction sites at these locations. Once completed, the Kansas City and Paris sites will replace regional auction units and the Grand Prairie site will replace the Company's existing permanent auction site in that city. Subsequent to period end, the Company completed the purchase of land in Medford, Minnesota and intends to construct a new permanent auction site to replace its existing site in that region.
Gross auction proceeds for the quarter ended September 30, 2007 were $667.6 million, auction revenues were $68.1 million and the auction revenue rate was 10.20%.
Peter Blake, the Company's CEO, remarked: "We are very pleased to see the momentum of the first part of this year continuing into the third quarter - so far this year we have experienced strong gross auction proceeds growth in all of our major markets. In addition, we have been able to deliver earnings growth as we build out our infrastructure and invest in the expansion of our business. We remain committed to growing our earnings at a sustainable pace while maintaining our focus on delivering first class customer service. This means that we will continue to add people, build our capacity and invest in process improvement to ensure we can exceed our customers' expectations." |
