business@tribunemedia.net
THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2023
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Super yacht ambitions to boost cruise port margins • Nassau among controlling shareholder’s lowest at 55% • Top executive confident of boost when port ‘in full swing’ • First-half revenues up seven-fold after cruise ‘hibernation’
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net NASSAU Cruise Port’s chief executive is optimistic that its “super yacht destination” ambitions and full opening will significantly improve operating income margins that are currently among its parent’s lowest. Michael Maura told Tribune Business he was confident that once Prince George Wharf’s $300m transformation is “in full swing”, and all commercial
FTX US chief moves to ratify Bahamas co-operation deal By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net FTX’s US chief last night moved to ratify the co-operation agreement thrashed out with the crypto exchange’s Bahamian joint provisional liquidators to end two months of bitter public clashes. Attorneys representing John Ray filed legal documents with the Delaware Bankruptcy Court for a hearing on February 15, 2023, where Judge John Dorsey will be asked to approve the deal worked out with Brian Simms KC, the Lennox Paton senior partner, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) accounting duo, Kevin Cambridge and Peter Greaves. “From the first days of these Chapter 11 cases,
the debtors and the joint provisional liquidators have disputed certain facts, conclusions of law and jurisdictional matters concerning FTX Digital Markets,” Mr Ray and his team asserted in reference to the Bahamian subsidiary that is in provisional liquidation before the Supreme Court. “Notwithstanding their continued dispute about these matters, the debtors and the joint provisional liquidators have worked constructively to develop a mutually acceptable path forward in the near term. On January 6, 2023, after substantial negotiation and discussions, the parties entered into the co-operation Agreement, which sets out a framework for co-operation and
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‘Good time to be a seller’, says realtor By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN realtor yesterday said it is a “good time to be seller” as the demand for properties valued under $500,000 has generated numerous inquiries from prospective purchasers. Matt Sweeting, chief executive at 1oak Bahamas, told Tribune Business that 2023 is looking “promising” based on the level of buyer interest witnessed in January. “I think we’re going to see some of that 2021-2022 excitement in the market. There’s still a bit of a housing shortage, especially under $500,000,” he said. “It’s a good time to be a local seller in the market and, for the buyer, in this climate they need to be very educated but ready to
amenities become operational, new and increased revenue streams will flow to the bottom line and drive improved profit margins. Speaking after it emerged that Nassau Cruise Port’s operating income margins are among the lowest of all ports operated by its controlling shareholder, some 34 percentage points below Global Ports Holding’s top performer, he explained that its earnings are currently limited to just two levies ahead of the May 27, 2023, official opening.
NASSAU CRUISE PORT “At the moment all we have to charge is essentially the passenger facility charge and port facility charge which are, and forever will be, the most substantial charges that Nassau Cruise Port will levy,” Mr Maura told this newspaper. “In a year’s time, when we are fully commercially operational, with all the tenants, retailers and restaurants, water taxis operational and marine ferry up
move as well. I just texted a client a moment ago, and they were like they were still thinking about it. We saw the property yesterday, but we had another showing there yesterday with a cash buyer. So by the time the first client has deliberated that property may very well be gone.” The high-end real estate market boomed in 2021 and
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BID is ‘missing piece’ of downtown’s puzzle By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE DOWNTOWN Nassau Partnership’s (DNP) co-chair says the creation of an authority to truly manage the city is “the missing piece of the puzzle” with his group having achieved “80 percent of what we set out to do”. Charles Klonaris, in a recent interview with Tribune Business, said the formation of a Business Improvement District (BID) with powers to raise revenues, establish bye-laws and manage downtown Nassau remains outstanding despite efforts dating back more than a decade. The Government has long possessed draft legislation to codify the BID’s creation in statute but, despite the wait to drive the DNP’s public-private partnership (PPP) to the next level, he added that
DOWNTOWN NASSAU it had covered “everything we can” and it was now up to individual property and business owners to determine the improvements they will make. “I feel that we’ve done as much as we can in terms of the infrastructure,” Mr Klonaris told this newspaper. “The cruise port has come into effect, the waterfront boardwalk is progressing very rapidly. Those empty spaces the Government owned,
Fiscal Council’s reports ‘not a flip of the switch’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
MATT SWEETING
in full swing, and we have established ourselves as a super yacht destination, all that will contribute directly to our bottom line and inevitably infuse our EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) margins. We are already carrying the cost of those assets that will provide us with a return.”
A FISCAL Responsibility Council member yesterday said there was nothing sinister about the body’s delayed publication of two key reports, and asserted: “This is not a flip of the switch.” Gowon Bowe, who represents the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) on the fiscal watchdog, told Tribune Business it had not held back its assessments of either the Fiscal Strategy Report 2021 or 2022-2023 Budget because of findings that might be perceived as “negative” for the Government. Speaking after Michael Pintard, the Opposition’s
MICHAEL PINTARD leader, demanded that the Council explain why publication was months’ late, he said the body was provided with further information and access by the Government in summer 2022 that was likely to improve the content of its analysis. The fiscal watchdog thus opted to produce a more complete report,
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where we’ve created those public spaces, parks and sidewalks, are much improved. “The one main issue that remains is the BID, and giving us some authority to manage the city itself. That’s the missing piece of the puzzle. The missing piece is the BID. We’ve provided the Government with the legislation. We had the lawyers work on a draft. We copied it from a BID district in the US.”
So-called BIDS have frequently been employed to drive urban regeneration and overhaul city management in the US, as they give such authorities regulatory and revenueraising powers that can also involve accessing grants and other forms of financing. Mr Klonaris was unclear as to the BID legislation’s status, and how far the
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