It was a good final quarter and 2021 for heavy equipment auctioneer Ritchie Bros. The Vancouver-based online and offline auctioneer has sold all its equipment online since the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

For the year ended Dec. 31 and despite sharply limited inventory the company attributes to the pandemic and related issues, gross transaction value (GTV) for its online auction and “buy-now” marketplace sites in 2021 grew year over year by 2% to $5.53 billion from $5.41 billion in 2020. In comparison, total revenue, which includes inventory sales and services, grew 3% to $1.41 billion from $1.38 billion in 2020. Net income for the year was $151.8 million compared with 2020 net income of $170.4 million.

“Across all channels, 100% of total GTV was purchased by online buyers compared to 94% in 2020,” Ritchie Bros. says in its recently filed annual report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “The increase in internet bidders and online buyers is a direct impact of COVID-19, as we pivoted to 100% online bidding from our traditional on-site auctions where on-site attendance was not permitted. We will continue to monitor the evolving impact of COVID-19 going forward and consider when a transition back to some measure of in-person attendance at our on-site auction events is safe.”

Ritchie Bros. sells construction equipment, trucks, drilling equipment and other vehicles online on its RitchieBros.com auction site and other related digital auction sites and the “buy-now/offer-now” ecommerce site Marketplace-E, which, among other features, enables sellers to list equipment online, receive offers from potential buyers and negotiate final purchase agreements. Marketplace-E, located online at IronPlanet.com/marketplace-e, is merging the operations of Ritchie’s EquipmentOne and IronPlanet Daily Marketplace buy-now ecommerce sites.

For the fourth quarter, gross transaction value (GTV) on Ritchie’s online auction and buy-now marketplace sites was flat at $1.46 billion compared with $1.44 billion in Q4 2020. In comparison, total revenue decreased 11% to $359.4 million from $383.4 million in the final quarter in 2020. Net income for the quarter was $30.6 million compared with a 2020 net loss of $48.9 million.

“We are pleased with this performance as, historically, these tight supply conditions have resulted in GTV declines on a year-on-year basis,” Ritchie Bros. Chief Financial Officer Sharon Driscoll told analysts on the company’s year-end earnings call.

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