Ritchie Bros. has reported a good finish to 2017, a year in which its revenues grew by 8 percent over 2016.
The Company generated $178.8 million of revenues, an increase of 22% compared to the same quarter last year. (All figures in US dollars.) Net income attributable to stockholders was $36.8 million compared to $27.9 million for the same quarter in 2016. The Auctions and Marketplaces segment revenues increased 20 percent in that period.
Full year results were influenced by broad-based effects of unprecedented demand for infrastructure projects, high equipment utilization rates, and an overall equipment shortage principally in the United States and Canada, resulting in lower than expected full year GTV and revenue performance. On May 31, 2017, the Company acquired IronPlanet for $776.5 million and undertook the complex integration work, which resulted in some temporary sales productivity decline.
The Company generated $610.5 million of revenues in 2017, an increase of 8 percent compared to $566.4 million in 2016
"In the fourth quarter, despite a continuation of supply constraints, we delivered GTV and revenue growth both on a reported and combined-company basis as our integration efforts started taking hold, the salesforce stabilized and our go to market execution improved", said Ravi Saligram, Chief Executive Officer of Ritchie Bros. "2017 as a whole was a historic year for Ritchie Bros. as we reshaped our future through the transformational acquisition of IronPlanet, a pivotal step in our evolution to become a truly diversified asset management and disposition company. Our full year financial results are a reflection of the unprecedented shortage of equipment supply, softness in Alberta's oil patch, and uncertainty caused by a significant delay in regulatory approvals that led to some salesforce turnover. However, we made meaningful progress on several fronts including solid revenue rate expansion over prior year, strong operating free cash flow, and excellent growth in EMEA, RBFS and Mascus. We are pleased to have completed our 2017 integration milestones and are on track to achieve our stated synergy targets. Looking ahead, we are very excited about the future of Ritchie Bros. and our results in our record-breaking auction last week in Orlando are testimony to the power of the combined company's capabilities. We are encouraged by the results in the fourth quarter and our progress to-date in 2018 but remain balanced as we navigate continued tight supply in 2018."
