Ritchie bids for bright future

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers announced gross revenue for 2008 of US$3.57 billion, a 12% increase over 2007.

Based in Vancouver, Canada, Ritchie Bros. conducted 193 unreserved industrial auctions in 13 countries, including North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia in 2008. The Company also conducted 147 unreserved agricultural auctions during the year.

"We continued to grow our business and set records at our auction sites around the world, in spite of the global economic turmoil. When economies around the world took a sudden and dramatic downturn at the start of our fourth quarter, some of our customers decided to delay selling their idle or surplus equipment until the market found its level. We've seen more pricing stability at our auctions in recent weeks, which gives comfort to potential consignors and bodes well for 2009," said Peter Blake, Ritchie Bros CEO.