Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated (NYSE and TSX: RBA) announces net earnings for the six months ended June 30, 2009 of $58.7 million, or $0.56 per diluted share, and adjusted net earnings of $58.1 million, or $0.55 per diluted share. This compares to adjusted net earnings of $53.2 million, or $0.50 per diluted share, for the first half of 2008. Adjusted net earnings is a non-GAAP financial measure and is defined below. Financial statement net earnings for the first half of 2008 were $62.3 million, or $0.59 per diluted share. The Company conducted 92 industrial auctions in 10 countries throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia during the first half of 2009, and set seven regional gross auction proceeds records. The Company also opened three auction facilities in the first half of 2009 as it continued its global auction site expansion program. All dollar amounts in this release are presented in United States dollars.
Quarterly dividend
The Company’s Board of Directors is also announcing the declaration of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per common share payable on September 11, 2009 to shareholders of record on August 21, 2009, representing an 11% increase over the Company’s previous quarterly dividend.
Gross auction proceeds and auction revenues
Gross auction proceeds for the six months ended June 30, 2009 were $1.91 billion, 2% lower than the first half of 2008. Auction revenues were $204.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2009, a 4% increase compared to the first half of 2008. Gross auction proceeds and auction revenues in local currency, being mainly the US, Canadian and Australian dollar and the Euro, increased 6% and 14%, respectively, compared to the first half of 2008. The Company’s auction revenue rate (auction revenues as a percentage of gross auction proceeds) was 10.70% in the first half of 2009, compared to 10.14% in the first half of 2008.
The Company achieved gross auction proceeds of $1.11 billion in the second quarter of 2009, representing a 5% decrease compared to the second quarter of 2008. Auction revenues were $120.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2009, compared to $115.8 million for the second quarter of 2008, an increase of 4%. The Company’s auction revenue rate was 10.86% for the second quarter of 2009, higher than the auction revenue rate of 9.95% in the second quarter of 2008 mainly due to the superior performance of its underwritten business.
Net earnings
Net earnings for the three months ended June 30, 2009 were $38.8 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, compared to net earnings for the three months ended June 30, 2008 of $45.9 million, or $0.43 per diluted share. Adjusted net earnings for the three months ended June 30, 2009 were $38.8 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, which represented a 2% increase over the adjusted net earnings for the three months ended June 30, 2008 of $37.9 million, or $0.36 per diluted share.
Numbers of bidders, buyers and sellers
The Company had over 177,000 bidder registrations at its unreserved industrial auctions in the first half of 2009, of which almost 51,000 were successful buyers. In the first half of 2008, the Company had almost 140,000 bidder registrations, of which over 41,000 were buyers.
Ritchie Bros. worked with a large number of truck, equipment and other asset sellers in the first half of 2009, selling over 148,000 lots on behalf of over 18,000 consignors. In the first half of 2008, Ritchie Bros. sold close to 123,000 lots for over 18,000 consignors.
Average Ritchie Bros. auction
The Company’s auctions varied in size over the 12 months ended June 30, 2009, but the average Ritchie Bros. industrial auction attracted almost 1,700 bidders who competed for over 1,400 lots consigned by 185 consignors. For the 12 months ended June 30, 2008, the average industrial auction attracted over 1,400 bidders, who competed for over 1,400 lots consigned by 193 consigners. The average gross auction proceeds per industrial auction for the 12 months ended June 30, 2009 was approximately $17.6 million (12 months ended June 30, 2008 – $17.8 million).
Online bidding statistics
Ritchie Bros. sold almost $425 million of trucks, equipment, and other assets to online bidders during the first half of 2009, representing a 15% increase compared to the first half of 2008 (first half of 2008 – almost $370 million). More than 115,000 customers from almost 190 countries have now registered and received approval to bid online at Ritchie Bros. auctions (June 30, 2008 – more than 89,000 customers from almost 180 countries). Internet bidders represented approximately 30% of the total registered bidders at Ritchie Bros. industrial auctions for the six month period ended June 30, 2009, and they were the buyer or runner up bidder on 34% of the lots offered online at these auctions (first half of 2008 – 29%). Since launching its real-time online bidding service in 2002, the Company has now sold almost $2.7 billion worth of trucks, equipment, and other assets to online bidders (June 30, 2008