Ritchie Bros Auctioneers sold nearly 11,000 forklifts at its auctions worldwide in 2007, about 7% more than in 2006.

The world's leading industrial auctioneer tells Forkliftaction.com News over 10,800 electric and internal combustion forklifts, rough-terrain forklifts and telescopic forklifts were sold in 2007 compared to 10,100 in 2006.

Bidders participated in the company's rbauctionBid-Live internet bidding service to buy forklifts worth USD19 million - 35.7% more than the USD14 million of forklifts bought by internet bidders in 2006.

In 2007, Ritchie Bros handled nearly 35,000 consignments and 261,000 lots were sold. This compares to the 32,000 consignments handled and 240,000 lots sold in 2006.

Ritchie Bros says its internet bidding service set records in 2007 with about 12,800 customers from 79 countries buying over USD600 million of equipment and real estate using rbauctionBid-Live.

The growing company hired over 130 new full-time employees in 2007, bringing its total employees to over 950 people. The new employees were hired at its international locations and Richmond, British Columbia head office.

"Ritchie Bros intends to continue expanding into new geographic regions and market sectors ... [and] is actively seeking new employees to support the growth," says spokeswoman Vicki Cunningham.

Last Monday, the company celebrated its 50th anniversary in the auction business and 10th anniversary as a publicly traded company by ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City.

Ritchie Bros' common shares were first listed on the Exchange on 10 March 1998 at USD8.50 per share. Its share price was USD77.63 at market closing on Monday, 14 January 2008.

When Ritchie Bros went public in 1998, it conducted over 100 unreserved auctions for total gross auction proceeds of more than USD1 billion that year. It had 50 locations in 14 countries, including 21 auction sites.

Today, the company has over 110 locations in more than 25 countries, including 37 auction sites. In 2007, it conducted over 350 unreserved industrial and agricultural auctions worldwide, generating over USD3 billion in gross auction proceeds.

Ritchie Bros will release its audited financial results on 21 February.