The parent company of Co Tyrone’s Euro Auctions has seen its pre-tax profits soar to £45.3m.
Gardrum Holdings saw pre-tax profits increasing by more than a third, while sales rose to £168.9m for the year ending December 2023.
“The directors consider the results for the year and the position of the group to the year end to be satisfactory,” the latest results said.
“The group will continue to seek every opportunity to increase profitable turnover.”
Euro Auctions buys and sells industrial plant, construction equipment and agricultural machinery around the world, and was founded in Dromore in 1998 by Derek Keys and his brothers.
“Performance in the sector is affected by general economic conditions and specific sectorial factors… sales are more prevalent in the growing economies where more infrastructure developments regularly take place,” the firm’s strategic report said.
“The group’s active review of market prices both provides protection and maximises opportunities from anticipated price rises.”
In 2022, a £775m merger between Euro Auctions and the Canadian company Ritchie Brothers was scrapped.
The transaction to combine the two companies would have been one of Northern Ireland’s biggest deals.
However, the UK’s Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) announced the deal would be subject to an inspection over the merger’s impact on the UK’s competitive landscape.
Founded in 1998, Euro Auctions conducts unreserved heavy equipment auctions with onsite and online bidding under the brands Euro Auctions and Yoder & Frey, with more than 200 employees in 14 countries.
Last year Euro Auctions acquired Michener Allen Auctioneering Limited, a Canadian industrial equipment and automotive auction company.
In its latest accounts, speaking about acquiring the new business last year, Euro Auctions said prior to the acquisition it had “minimal presence” in markets such as Canada.
“As a result of the acquisition, the group expects to increase its sales to customers in the Canadian markets.”
It said the goodwill and other assets arising from the takeover is “attributable to the acquired customer base and economies of scale expected from combining the operations into the group”.
Speaking at the time of the takeover, Derek Keys of Euro Auctions, said: “We are delighted to welcome the wider Michener family into the Euro Auctions family. We don’t see this as an acquisition more of a coming together of two strong family businesses, sharing the same core principle of delivering unrivalled customer service by treating both buyers and sellers equally.
“We have always kept a keen eye on the Canadian market with the ambition one day of entering it, so we are delighted with this opportunity.”