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MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2020
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Atlantis occupancies at 50% as virus bites By NEIL HARTNELL and YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporters ATLANTIS yesterday revealed that normallybuoyant occupancy levels for the peak winter period have fallen to 50 percent as “tourism and commerce grinds to a halt” amid the coronavirus pandemic. A spokesperson for the Paradise Island-based mega resort told Tribune Business: “While the present occupancy rate is hovering around 50 percent, the current occupancy and any forecast is irrelevant given the fact that circumstances
• Graycliff sees 60% booking cancellations • PM: ‘No sector more at risk’ than tourism • Minister: Health, security ‘trumps’ all else
DIONISIO D’AGUILAR
Cruise sector closure ‘extremely devastating’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE cruise industry’s 30-day shutdown will be “extremely devastating” for Bay Street and all who rely on the sector for their livelihood, the Downtown Nassau Partnership’s cochair warned yesterday. Charles Klonaris told Tribune Business that while downtown merchants, tour and excursion providers, straw vendors and hair braiders will “feel the brunt of the shutdown”, it represented merely the beginning of what he described as “a domino effect” that is
unlikely to spare any part of the Bahamian economy and/ or society. While a “dead” city of Nassau would show “the physical impact at the door”, he added that increased unemployment, and reduced personal and business incomes, would have a “severe” impact throughout New Providence as a result of the coronavirus crisis. Arguing that “we’re not in a position to deal with this crisis” due to The Bahamas’ reliance on imports for virtually all it consumes, Mr Klonaris said the lack
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Virus delay hits oil exploration By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net AN OIL explorer has delayed the drilling of its first well in Bahamian waters until late May/early June to ensure the coronavirus crisis does not cost it “millions of dollars”. Simon Potter, the Bahamas Petroleum Company’s (BPC) chief executive, told Tribune Business that pushing back the April 2020
target date by around a month was “really inconvenient and frustrating” but it had to keep in mind the potential health, financial and operational impacts created by the global pandemic. “Our rocks have been there for hundreds of millions of years, and are not going anywhere, so let’s keep this in perspective,” he said, noting that there
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are changing. Our primary focus at this time is the health and safety of our guests and staff.” Atlantis is far from the only Bahamian resort feeling a sharp COVID-19 related decline in business during a peak winter season when it should be enjoying occupancies consistently in the high 80 percent to low 90 percent range, as fearful travellers opt to cancel
planned vacations and stay at home, both to avoid infection and to conserve funds. Graycliff revealed to this newspaper that it has seen a 60 percent booking cancellation rate as the pandemic continues to spread worldwide. Roberta Garzaroli said the cancellations had been split “evenly at 50/50”
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Hotels dodge ‘even more of a disaster’ over coronavirus By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Bahamian resort industry has “escaped even more of a disaster” by getting through much of the peak winter season before the coronavirus fall-out took full effect, a senior hotelier says. Robert Sands, pictured, Baha Mar’s senior vicepresident of government and external affairs, told Tribune Business that the hotel sector was hoping to “get through March” before the worst effects of the travel cancellations and postponements took effect. While forward bookings “have slowed, and continue
to slow”, Mr Sands said there were also signs that Easter holiday business volumes “may hold but not at the levels anticipated”. He added, though, that it was “a different ball game” beyond Easter with tremendous industry uncertainty over the
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CRUISE ISLAND’S TWO-MONTH CLOSURE IMPACTS 100 STAFF By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net
AROUND 100 staff will be impacted by a cruise line’s decision to close its Eleuthera private island for two months in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Princess Cruises, the Carnival-owned cruise line brand, confirmed that operations on Princess Cays will only resume on May 11 as the world battles to bring the Covid-19 outbreak under control. A Princess Cruises representative, in a statement to Tribune Business, said: “Princess Cays will be closed for the 60-day period as outlined. Princess Cays will re-open once operations resume May 11. The first call will be Caribbean Princess on May 17, and employees were notified via an e-mail on the morning of March 12.”
One Princess Cays employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, was startled when contacted by Tribune Business and informed of the move. Indicating that they had not seen the e-mail sent last week Thursday, they said: “I don’t know what to tell you. I guess it is what it is and whatever the e-mail from Princess Cruises is we have to go with that.” The closure is in line with Princess Cruises’ move to cancel all voyages for two months. And Princess Cay is far from the only Bahamian private island destination to be impacted by the wider cruise industry’s 30-day shutdown, as others affected will include Royal Caribbean’s $250m Perfect Day experience on Coco Cay; Disney’s Castaway Cay; and Half Moon Cay near Cat Island. Jan Swartz, Princess
Cruises’ president, said in a statement: “By taking this bold action of voluntarily pausing the operations of our ships, it is our intention to reassure our loyal guests, team members and global stakeholders of our commitment to the health, safety and well-being of all who sail with us, as well as those who do business with us, and the countries and communities we visit around the world.” The cruise line added: “Those currently on board a cruise that will end in the next five days will continue to sail as expected through the end of the itinerary so that onward travel arrangements are not disrupted. Current voyages that are underway and extend beyond March 17 will be ended at the most convenient location for guests, factoring in operational requirements. “Princess will do
everything possible to return each guest home with the greatest amount of care possible. During this time, our operations and medical teams across the fleet will remain vigilant in their care and service for guests and crew onboard.” Ms Swartz also said, “While this is a difficult business decision, we firmly believe it is the right one and is in alignment with our company’s core values. Rest assured the long-serving and dedicated professionals at our company will make best use of this time to prepare Princess Cruises’ fleet of cruise ships for a successful return to operation to serve our guests by delivering an exceptional vacation experience.” Princess will protect travel advisor commissions on bookings for cancelled cruises that were paid in full, and for the total amount of the future cruise credits.
Tourism businesses feel coronavirus hit By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net SANDALS Emerald Bay resort is among the entities feeling the effects of a coronavirus-inflicted downturn in business. Jeremy Mutton, its general manager, told Tribune Business: “Inevitably with various travel bans and travel restrictions going on around the world we have seen a reduction in our arrivals and in immediate short-term bookings. “I wouldn’t necessarily call
it cancellations. I would say more people are postponing. They are not cancelling altogether; they’re just pushing back their dates to later on in the year and we have allowed them flexibility to do so.” He added: “In terms of comparisons with previous events, honestly each has taken their own particular spin. There are different travel circumstances, there are different travel restrictions and bans this time as they were with some of the other viruses or 9/11, so it is quite difficult to compare in
that regard. “We have seen a reduction in our occupancy but it is difficult to give a percentage. This is normally a buoyant time of year not only for Sandals Emerald Bay but for the entire Exuma.” Mr Mutton said he was expecting this decrease in occupancy levels to persist for the next few months. Vernon Moss, general manager for the Sandyport Beach Resort, said of visitor cancellations: “We had a few but we are still holding our own. My reservations department is still going through the
actual numbers but it hasn’t been as much. Confirmed cases are the main threshold you have to look out for.” The Bahamas recorded its first confirmed coronavirus case at the weekend. Anthony Higgs, general manager of Harbour Safaris, also confirmed he has witnessed a bookings decline, and said: “I don’t know about percentage-wise, but it is limited to the end of this month. The beginning of next month, individuals travelling through can’t get to the States and they can’t get here.”
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Monday, March 16, 2020, PAGE 3
TAXI CHIEF: ‘NEVER SO CLOSE TO ANNIHILATION’ By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net
the speculation we hear out there is that it is a matter of time before they cancel the air flights. I am suspecting in a week or so the planes are going to stop flying. Right now, it’s panic time. “We have never been this close to annihilation. We experienced something like this during the Gulf War, and the second time was in 9/11. This is definitely worse than those, and we have yet to feel the full effects of this coronavirus. With the Gulf War, once that was done they were able to gather up their travellers and say that the war was in the Middle East and
you can still come to The Bahamas. Mr Ferguson continued: “They had said during the Gulf War that 65 percent of Americans stopped travelling, and of the 35 percent that travelled, 22 percent of that travelled to The Bahamas. Even though it was very slow, we still got the lion’s share of those who travelled outside of the United States. With a disease, you are travelling from a country where the disease is prevalent to a country where the disease is present as well.” Mr Ferguson also expressed concerns about the “catastrophic effects” of
The Bahamas’ three main economic drivers being shut down. With Abaco and Freeport still recovering from Dorian, he said the country was now “dead in the water” due to COVID-19’s impact on Nassau. “I don’t think we have seen the brunt of this outbreak yet,” he warned. “There is no antidote and there is no cure for this. So the world authorities are saying they want to contain this in one spot, but I am very concerned for the taxi drivers because they are right in the forefront since they are the first people the tourists will come into contact with it.”
BPL AWAITS FURTHER ABACO ASSISTANCE BTC UNVEILS VIRUS READINESS STRATEGY
With continuous broadband Internet connectivity likely to assume critical importance for both businesses and households, BTC said it was examining its ability to enhance speeds and access for all customers as growing numbers have to either stay at or work from home in the coming weeks. BTC also recently trialled its BTC Study, a virtual learning programme, with the Ministry of Education. The program provided free live, interactive classes to more than 3,000 students preparing for the upcoming BJC and BGSCE examinations. The carrier said it will work closely with the Ministry to expand the programme as needed. Garfield “Garry” Sinclair, BTC’s chief executive, said: “BTC is your partner, whether you will have to work or attend virtual classes from home. We are working hard to provide increased and uninterrupted broadband capacity to our business and residential customers to ensure they will be able to stay connected throughout whatever we have to confront as a community. “Our B2B team is customising a number of solutions to meet the individual needs of our business
customers as well as providing dongles and LTE boxes to enable productivity for their employees. We are also partnering with the government to provide toll-free hotline numbers as needed.” BTC said it was following guidance from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Ministry of Health and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in its response to COVID-19. Pledging that the safety of its employees, families, customers and the community was its main concern, BTC said it has so implemented multiple precautionary measures. These include an increased frequency of cleaning across its facilities, which are being deep cleaned on a daily basis. Hand sanitisers have been placed in retail stores and offices, whicle technical teams are equipped with rubber gloves and safety glasses. All BTC employees excluding its retail, technical and contact centre teams will work from home tomorrow to test the carrier’s ability to function in a worst-case scenario. And all staff who have travelled to restricted countries within the last 14 days are being asked to observe a 14-day quarantine.
THE 30-day cruise industry shutdown means that industries reliant upon it have “never been this close to annihilation”, the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union’s (BTCU) chief is arguing. Wesley Ferguson said of the end to all cruises from the US, in response to the coronovirus pandemic: “That is devastating. The taxi drivers are heavily dependent on the cruise sector, but I would prefer the ships to leave than to have a cadre of sick taxi drivers.
By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMAS Power & Light (BPL) is expecting to receive further regional assistance to help speedup power restoration efforts in Abaco almost seven months after Hurricane Dorian’s passage. The state-owned utility monopoly, in a statement issued on Friday, said: “Our restoration work has been continually supported by workers from utilities around the Caribbean under an arrangement with the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC). “CARILEC is an association of electric utilities, suppliers, manufacturers and other stakeholders operating in the electricity industry in the Caribbean. Teams from around the region have been in Abaco since September, including teams from Dominica, the Cayman Islands, Antigua, Trinidad, Belize, St Vincent and the Grenadines, the British Virgin Islands and, most recently, Grenada. “The team from Grenada left on Sunday, and we wish to thank our CARILEC compatriots for their invaluable assistance thus far. We are expecting further assistance from CARILEC, with pledges already received from Jamaica, Turks & Caicos, Barbados and St Lucia for the coming weeks and months.” BPL added: “It should also be noted there are three contracting companies already present on the island as well, participating in the recovery efforts. Several additional companies will be added in the shortterm, essentially to replace the CARILEC manpower as the CARILEC assistance winds down. Meanwhile, the local BPL distribution teams (both overhead and underground) have all returned to Abaco, and are being supported by BPL team members from Long Island and New Providence. “As of the end of February 2020, we continue to work at restoring the transmission and distribution lines, plus the underground infrastructure, of Abaco. We are pleased to report the completion of the following assignments, which means works at these locations are complete and they are now fully powered up: Central Abaco primary school; Maxwell Super Centre; Great Abaco Beach extension; Government Treasury Building; Spring City electrification; and Water and Sewerage Corporation wellfield.” “In addition, we have completed work in Blackwood, which was initially reenergised in December 2019, and which is now 100 percent completed. The work included digging holes for new poles, erecting, dressing and stringing those poles and tying conductors. BPL said the Central Pines Subdivision was about 80 percent complete, and added: “Reconstruction of the infrastructure on Green Turtle Cay is 100 percent complete. In Murphy Town, 50 percent, and Dundas Town, ten percent.” BPL said it has installed 95 percent of the necessary poles in Murphy Town, and 15 percent of those needed in Dundas Town. It added: “We have begun clean-up in the Treasure Cay Community, and expect power restoration from the entrance of Treasure Cay to completion to take 11 weeks. “We are about 75 percent complete on the 12.47
“The 30 days is just a ‘ball park’ figure of what they expect, and it may not be 30 days. I am concerned for the taxi drivers, but I would rather them be healthy and broke than to be making money sick.” Mr Ferguson said he was “hoping” that some of his union members and other taxi drivers were “wise enough” to save money to get them through any economic downturn. He added: “This is supposed to be the peak season for the taxi drivers during Mach, April and May because you have Spring Break.
kV transmission line from Ferry Dock to Treasure Cay entrance, and about ten percent of the way through on Pelicans Shores, where we still have to dig holes, plant new poles, dress and string new poles and the other ancillary work before we can energise customers. The utility continued: “In the Cays, work has progressed as well. However, the areas damaged by Hurricane Dorian include the submarine cabling in and around the cays, and the overhead and underground systems on the cays. “This means our estimates for repair/reconstruction are dependent on availability of equipment, manpower and external assistance. On Man-O-War Cay, we are 100 percent completed with overhead construction, and we expect three weeks to completion of the southern underground infrastructure and another three weeks to installation of submarine cabling. “On Elbow Cay, we are at about 90 percent with overhead reconstruction, which will take a further three weeks to complete. Once this is done we will be able to restore power to Hope Town.” BPL added: “It should be
“In spite of Dorian, we were hoping for a real robust peak season due to more people coming to Nassau. Due to the coronavirus we are just getting by. One of our main contracts is the shuttle system from the Festival Place and the various cruise ships, so that is something we lost right away. With no cruise ships there is no reason to be there, and that has hugely diminished our revenue.” Voicing fears that airlift to The Bahamas could go the way of the cruise industry, he added: “How long do we know if the airplanes are about to fly? Because
noted that while our teams have located the cables connecting Elbow Cay to the mainland, which had been dislodged by the effects of the storm, initial testing and verification revealed that this cable must be replaced in its entirety. “We have started to install the cable, but given the expected timeframe, BPL has moved to provide temporary generation, which is presently en route to the Cay. Underground reconstruction south of Hope Town will take another five to six weeks to complete. “Overhead reconstruction is 95 percent completed on Guana Cay, and will take another week to complete once materials are in place. Meanwhile, we are at about ten percent complete on both the underground reconstruction and the requisite submarine cable testing and repairs, and we estimate a further three weeks for these to be completed.” BPL said street lighting has been installed in 65 percent of Murphy Town and a quarter of Don McKay Boulevard. Some 15 percent of Spring City and Central Pines have street lights.
GARFIELD SINCLAIR THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) yesterday said it is intensifying efforts to provide businesses and schools with the services they will need during a coronavirusenforced shutdown. The carrier added that it will conduct a “work from home” test tomorrow for all non-front line operations to determine its ability to remain fully operational should its offices be forced to close by the still-expanding global pandemic.
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Atlantis occupancies at 50% as virus bites FROM PAGE ONE between the resort and restaurant. “We’ve had mostly cancellations for group business, though for now a few have pushed to later date in the year, but that doesn’t help in this immediate time,” she said. She added that the magnitude of the decline in business compared to the aftermath of previous 21st century economic shocks, such as the September 11 terror attacks and the 2008-2009 global economic recession. Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business yesterday that the
tourism sector’s forward bookings have suffered “a tremendous and significant” decline due to the deepening coronavirus crisis. This fall-off has gathered pace since Donald Trump announced the US was closing its borders to air traffic from Europe. This was swiftly followed by the cruise line industry’s move to shut down for 30 days, with Mr D’Aguilar acknowledging that “tourism and commerce worldwide is grinding to a halt” with The Bahamas not immune from the impact. “Back-of-the-envelope” calculations by Tribune
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For further information, please call telephone number: (242) 394-4481 (242) 394-4484
Business, using arrivals figures from March 2019, give an insight into the potential economic impact from the cruise industry shutdown alone. Some 547,464 cruise passengers visited The Bahamas during that month last year, based on Ministry of Tourism data employed by the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA). Multiplying that number by $18, representing the per head departure tax that the government stands to earn, indicates that the sector’s 30-day shutdown will cost the government some $9.854m from this one revenue stream alone. It does not include all the valueadded tax (VAT) that the Public Treasury would also stand to earn from cruise passenger spending. Using the $70 to $131.95 range, representing the per capita cruise passenger spending figures provided by the government and cruise industry, respectively, suggests The Bahamas will lose between $38.322m and $72.238m in economic impact due to the shutdown. Should it be prolonged beyond 30 days, a sector that delivered 5.4m or 75 percent of The Bahamas’ total 7.2m visitors in 2019 will be under threat. With tourism accounting for both 50 percent of Bahamian jobs and economic output, the cruise industry closure - combined with the drop-off in stopover visitors - represents a potentially huge blow that will spare no Bahamian or resident. The prime minister, in his national address last night, said “no sector is more at risk” than The Bahamas’ number one industry and largest employer as he bemoaned the coronavirus’s emergence at a time when the economy is still recovering from the $3.4bn worth of losses and damage inflicted by Hurricane Dorian.
ATLANTIS PARADISE ISLAND “This coronavirus crisis represents yet another risk to our economy, and the country’s finances and fiscal sustainability plans,” he affirmed. “This crisis will have a growing adverse impact on confidence, travel and supply chains across the globe. This will affect Bahamian workers and businesses, and will have an impact on the poorer and more vulnerable in our country.” Dr Hubert Minnis said he would be meeting with major businesses and private sector organisations to help develop a strategy on how The Bahamas should respond. “This crisis will have a tremendous and widespread economic impact,” he reiterated. “Tourism accounts for an estimated 50 percent of our gross domestic product; just under 50 percent of direct employment, and has a cascading impact across the broader economy. Another important fact is that over 80 percent of our stopover visitors are from the US, which is reporting increasing cases of the virus, and 75 percent of our visitors come by cruise ships, which are suspending cruises. “All of these developments signal to us the huge exposure our economy faces from the spread of the virus, which has already began to show up.” K Peter Turnquest, deputy prime minister, could not be reached for comment yesterday on the potential fiscal impact from the coronavirus fallout. However, one source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Ministry of Finance had “provided him with some of the likely scenarios and
impacts, and some of the potential policy prescription” for mitigating the effects. These have to be discussed with Cabinet before being unveiled in the House of Assembly. “We will get a significant impact, but hopefully it will be fairly short-term - a matter of months, not a matter of years,” the source said. “It will be short lived, hopefully. It will be severe, but hopefully will not last too long. It’s not what happens but how you respond. The challenge is how do we respond effectively.” Mr D’Aguilar, meanwhile, told Tribune Business of the cruise ship shutdown: “The economic impact, of course, will be tremendous throughout the length and breadth of The Bahamas. It impacts the government’s revenues, employment opportunities, taxi drivers - all of them. The financial impact is quite significant.” As for the sudden plunge in bookings for The Bahamas’ more lucrative stopover tourism segment, he added: “I don’t think anybody on the planet is thinking about a vacation right now. One anticipates, without looking at the forward booking numbers, a tremendous drop-off.” However, Mr D’Aguilar argued that The Bahamas’ proximity to the US meant it was better positioned than most to rapidly rebound from a tourism perspective once the coronavirus crisis has passed. And he added that tourism, and its importance as the country’s leading economic growth and jobs creator, needed to take a temporary back seat to
the health and well-being of all Bahamians and residents. “On the other end of the storm, I think The Bahamas is most suited from a speedy recovery for a number of reasons. People don’t want to go far and we have proximity a short distance from the US,” he said. “While there will be a tremendous and significant short-term downturn, for any recovery we’re well-positioned to take advantage of it. As more and more countries move to isolate themselves from the rest of the world, it’s probably something we need to start considering ourselves. “As we move to protect our citizens, while tourism is our number one industry, that’s trumped by the need to protect our citizens and ensuring our health resources are not overwhelmed by foreign visitors to the country. All this comes into play.” Mr D’Aguilar argued that all sectors apart from healthcare were likely to be impacted by the coronavirus, and said of its potential impact: “The only bit of evidence I have is when I was in the private sector and ran Superwash. It took four years to get back to 2008 sales levels after the 20082009 recession. “I think the whole world is grinding to a halt. Everything involved in the movement of people is grinding to a halt. Everyone is running into their home to hunker down. It’s not only tourism but commerce in general. Worldwide commerce is going to take a significant hit because of this.”
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Cruise sector closure ‘extremely devastating’ FROM PAGE ONE of local food and other supply chains exacerbates the country’s vulnerability to COVID-19 because so little is produced here. He called on the government, private sector and civil society to unite and find “ways to keep the island afloat until the crisis ends”, suggesting that the COVID19 fall-out was “a wake-up call” for The Bahamas’ economic future. The cruise industry’s major operators, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Lines and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), all stopped sailing from the US as of midnight on Saturday, closing down a sector that brought 5.4m, or 75 percent, of the total 7.2m visitors that came to The Bahamas’ shores in 2019. “I would say it’s going to be extremely devastating,” Mr Klonaris told Tribune Business of the impact. “As you know, the majority of the shoppers downtown are from the cruise ships and visitors from the hotel. “It’s going to be a huge and very serious impact on our economy, especially on the retail outlets and tour operators. They are the ones that are going to feel the brunt of the shutdown more than anybody right now. “But it’s not just them,” the Downtown Nassau Partnership (DNP) co-chair added. “It’s a domino effect. One thing leads to another. Right now it’s hard for me to determine the full impact, but understanding how Bay Street works it’s serious situation. It’s going to affect the economy totally. “How do people deal with debt? How do people deal with income, purchasing power? All this has an effect. There has got to be a concerted effort on the part of everybody to see how we can mitigate this crisis that is upon us.” Mr Klonaris added that the
CRUISESHIPS docked at Prince George Wharf. biggest unknown for Bahamians, and their economy, was how widespread the COVID-19 pandemic will become at home and abroad, and how long it will last. And he questioned if the cruise industry’s suspension will last for more than the stated 30 days. “The most disturbing part about this is how long it’s going to last. They say 30 days. Hopefully that is what it is. We don’t know,” Mr Klonaris said, revealing that he had experienced nothing like the coronavirus and its economic impact before. “The ripple effect is not going to be Bay Street. We will see the physical impact at the door, but then there is the unemployment rate and effect it will have on the entire economy of The Bahamas. Physically, you’re going to look at a city that could perhaps be dead, but what does it mean for the economy of the island itself? It ripples out. “You have two issues. One is containment of the virus, and the second is the economy, and that’s going to impact every one of our islands severely. We’ve come through Dorian and now have this coronavirus, which from an economic perspective could be even more devastating.” Ed Fields, the Downtown Nassau Partnership’s co-chair, yesterday said the private sector has already engaged the government over how to minimise the economic repercussions for businesses, employees and the wider economy. “With respect to downtown, the economic impact is not precisely measurable but it is safe to say it will be significant,” Mr Fields said
via e-mail. “The business community will be working with government to make recommendations about how to mitigate the situation and those discussions are underway. To go beyond that at this time would be speculative at best as this situation is changing by the hour.” Mr Klonaris, meanwhile, said The Bahamas’ status as a small, open economy that relies on imports for all it consumes had left it especially vulnerable to a coronavirus-type pandemic because so little is manufactured or produced here. “The uncertainty is the part that’s most worrisome to everybody,” he added. “We’re not in a position to deal with this crisis. We’ve got to keep the island alive, and everybody has to come together in a realistic and pragmatic way to see how best to solve this situation.” Arguing that such an effort required the collaboration of all government agencies, the private sector and civil society, the DNP co-chair warned: “The island is going to practically shut down. The jobs are going to disappear quickly. All these areas will be impacted, and we have to come together to see how we can mitigate and keep us afloat until this is over. The key is how do we keep the island afloat? “For us it’s more difficult because we’re relying on external forces. We don’t have control over the cruise ships, we don’t have control over the airlines. It’s a serious situation. It could be a wakeup call for for how we look at this island and economy. There are going to be hard answers and difficult decisions to be made.”
Monday, March 16, 2020, PAGE 5
Hotels dodge ‘even more of a disaster’ over coronavirus FROM PAGE ONE
outlook as the industry heads into the slower summer months. The Baha Mar executive also said “the jury is still out” on whether the COVID19 pandemic will have the same impact on The Bahamas’ largest private sector industry as the likes of the September 11 terror attacks and the 2008-2009 recession. He indicated that comparisons between these events were unfair at present, especially since all flights from the US were grounded for 14 days following the former and “we’re not in that position yet”. Mr Sands said that while no resort was currently contemplating lay-offs, the sector was focused on “maximising labour values and economies of scale” should the situation persists. That is likely a reference to reduced working hours and weeks for sector employees, and he told Tribune Business: “We’re in uncharted territory. Fortunately, I think the hotels have gone through January and February, and March to a large degree, which is holding with some attrition. “That has been a little bit of the light for the industry. If we can get through March, and February and March are the most critical months of the year, although many of the properties may not make projections... Had this happened at the height of the winter season, and we not be able to experience some of the occupancies for February and March, it would be even more of a disaster.
BAHA MAR RESORT “Beyond March it’s a different ball game but the substantive part of the winter season is still preserved. It is beyond that period, and into the period when it is traditionally slow. We don’t know what the final outcome will be, but the slowing of bookings indicates the business levels anticipated will not be realised. I think Easter may hold, though not at the levels anticipated, but it will be after that which is in question.” Describing The Bahamas a a destination where there is traditionally a short booking lead-time, Mr Sands said the industry was monitoring booking pace rather than cancellations to gain a better understanding of future business levels. “The real monitoring agent for determining the level of business going forward is the booking pace, which has slowed and continues to slow,” he told Tribune Business. “We’re certainly preparing ourselves for what is to come. “The tourism industry in The Bahamas and worldwide is very resilient. This is certainly temporary, but we don’t know how long temporary is. It will relent, but during the period of impact
it will inflict a certain level of pain.” Asked how the COVID19 crisis compares to previous external shocks that have hit the tourism industry, such as September 11 and the 2008-2009 recession, Mr Sands replied: “I think the jury is still out. You would recall from 9/11 that there was no air travel at all for 14 days. We’re not totally in that position as yet. “All flights were grounded for an extended period of time, and we’re not in that position. It would not be a fair comparison to say we’re in that state at this time.” As for how the hotel industry will likely respond to preserve financial sustainability, Mr Sands added: “I don’t think anybody is looking at lay-offs, but certainly maximising labour value and economies of scale if it gets any worse. “It’s almost like hurricane season, and plans you put in place to deal with major hurricanes apply to this situation as well. Dorian and the coronavirus have certainly set us back. The country was gaining strength. It has delayed recovery, as we had rebounded fairly quickly after Dorian only be hit with this worldwide pandemic.”
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why did this happen? It has been a perfect storm; on one hand, coronavirus undermined oil demand, THE coronavirus is especially in China, the now infecting and killing a world’s number one buyer, growing number of people while at the same time US across the globe, with an shale production surged to increasing number of coun- an all-time high. tries imposing draconian The coup-de-grace on containment measures that oil was delivered by Saudi are severely impacting the Arabia and Russia. The economic growth prospects two OPEC plus members of the world’s economy. The impact is felt in two are the globe’s top exportways. Firstly through a ers and crucially failed to reduction in supply, as the agree on how to deal with global chain is affected the sudden surge in the by the closure of factories availability of oil, engaging due to the quarantining of in a game of dare - through workers and other contain- price cuts and further ment measures. Secondly increases in production the demand for goods - that ultimately led to the and services drops due sharpest price drop since to restrictions imposed 1991 at the time of the first by authorities coupled Gulf war. with the fear consumers The combination of the have faced with such an collapse in oil price and uncertainty situation. the apprehension that Major spending plans are was already felt by invesput on hold. tors over the fallout from The drama of the situ- the coronavirus crisis, creation is reflected in the ated a sense of panic in abysmal figures for new the markets, compounded car sales in China, which in the last few days, by recorded an unparalleled drop of 80 percent in the exacerbation of the health situation in sevFebruary. Another provider of eral countries and the lack catchy headlines, over of decisive action from the last week, has been oil. The steep decline in the price of the barrel of crude is nothing but seismic; in less than a week it fell from $46 per barrel to just above $31, a drop of more than 30 percent. But
European and American authorities. Donald Trump disappointed many when he spoke to the nation and announced a ban on European travellers, labelling the virus as foreign. This led to a debacle in stock exchanges and a general depreciation of risk related assets during Thursday, March 12, as the markets expressed their dismay at the belligerent tone adopted by the US President. Concerted international co-operation may be the only way to diffuse the sense of panic that is starting to dominate the markets and economic agents around the globe. Measures of stimulus, that go beyond ultra-accommodative monetary policies and include concerted global fiscal support are required from international authorities, so that a recession of yet unknown proportions can be avoided. A crisis such as this one, where both supply and demand are affected, has the potential to create a vicious circle and trigger a longlasting economic downturn.
THE TRIBUNE
Virus delay hits oil exploration FROM PAGE ONE were “many people in deeper trouble” as a result of the health and economic fall-out worldwide. Mr Potter explained that the various travel bans implemented to delay the virus’s spread threatened the ability of BPC’s oil rig to maintain a 45-60 day exploratory drilling programme for its first well, named Perseverance One, as they would disrupt the logistics flows of manpower and equipment required for such an operation. “I don’t think anybody could have foreseen this or planned for this,” he told Tribune Business. “We have been gearing up for the past eight months to execute this project in terms of the drilling phase. We anticipated it would have been underway in April, and simply had to adjust the schedule to May/ June time. “Drilling is a complex project that involves a lot of people and equipment, and bits and pieces, and a lot of that comes from all over the world. To operate the rig efficiently, it has to certainly be in place for 45 to 60 days in our case. The virus makes it much more challenging to get people and equipment to the rig in the timing we need... “If we were half way through and can’t get people to the rig, there’s a lull and interruption. That’s millions of dollars, which is fine for an oil major’s point of view, but from our point of view - and a health and safety point of view - we don’t want a delay while the rig is there.” Setting aside the financial pitfalls, Mr Potter said an oil rig was no different from a cruise ship in that just one infected worker could pass the coronavirus on to hundreds in a confined environment. “You’ve got 200 people on the rig in close proximity to each other,”
Monday, March 16, 2020, PAGE 7 he explained. “It only needs one person to infect many.” The BPC chief said many elements of its plans relied on “just in-time” provisioning, meaning that the certainty of being able to get manpower and equipment to the rig just when it is needed is critical to its operations. BPC, in a release to shareholders explaining the rationale for the drilling delay, said the coronavirus pandemic had created an “extraordinary, unprecedented” operating environment for both itself and other businesses. Should the pandemic continue such that the May/ June timeline for drilling Perseverance One not be met, the exploration outfit said its alternative timeline would be late 2020 after the August-October hurricane season peak. It pegged this as mid-October, given that its licence with the government requires it to spud an exploratory well before year-end 2020. “The company considers that safe, responsible and cost-effective drilling can best be delivered by ensuring continuous operations throughout the entire period of the drill plan,” BPC explained. “For this to occur, the company, its major contractors, and all relevant staff and personnel must be operationally ready, with all necessary equipment available, all provisioning organised and a logistical plan completed, such that all aspects of operations can be safely executed uninterrupted throughout the duration of intended drilling activities. “The company’s well planning to-date has thus involved putting in place arrangements for reliable access to the range of globally-sourced equipment, goods, services and personnel required to execute the designed well continuously for the 45 to 60-day critical period of anticipated drilling activity,” BPC added. “For this reason, the company has also sought to plan
for drilling to occur outside of the peak risk period for hurricanes in The Bahamas (being August to October), given that any unexpected downtime during operations introduces additional commercial risk, as from the company’s perspective downtime periods have to be paid for at essentially the same day rate as normal drilling operations. “Any such downtime periods would therefore materially impact the overall cost of operations, and consequential business loss insurance is not available to cover such scenarios.... According to most global commentators, it now appears likely that this high level of operating uncertainty will continue to prevail for at least the next eight to ten weeks, which unfortunately runs right through the company’s currently scheduled drilling window, thereby introducing a risk to the company’s ability to operate continuously, responsibly and within currently established guidelines, timelines and, as a consequence, budgets.” Mr Potter added in a statement: “We have made consistent progress toward drilling of the company’s 100 percent owned and operated Perseverance No.1 well, targeting recoverable prospective resources of 0.7m to 1.4bn barrels of oil. As a prudent operator our primary objective is a safe well, best delivered by the ability to drill uninterrupted by external events for the period of the drill plan. “Such a continuous operation is also the most cost effective. It is in this context that we have had to reassess the timing for commencement of drilling given the widespread disruption being caused by the global response to the COVID-19 virus. “Whilst incredibly frustrating given all the hard work undertaken to get to the current state of drillreadiness, the responsible thing to do is to slightly reschedule commencement of operations, to later in
the second quarter 2020, to a time when continuous delivery of operations can be better assured whilst also still enabling operations to be completed before the peak risk period of the Bahamian hurricane season. Pleasingly, farm-out discussions in the context of our overall funding strategy continue to advance. We will update shareholders as appropriate over the coming weeks.” BPC added that its financing remained in place to cover anticipated well costs of between $25m to $30m, with “potential contingencies” possibly adding a further $5m in expenses.
To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394
COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS IN THE SUPREME COURT Equity Side
2018 COM/qui/00720
IN THE MATTER OF ALL THAT piece parcel lot of land Lot No. Eleven (11) comprising one (1) Acre of land and originally granted to Edward George in Adelaide Village in the Western District of the Island of New Providence NORTHWARDLY and running thereon Two hundred and Thirty-one (231) feet EASTWARDLY running thereon One hundred and Ninety - two (192) feet and running thereon Two hundred and Twenty - four (224) feet SOUTHWARDLY bounded by swamp land and running thereon One hundred and Fifty (150) feet WESTWARDLY, which said piece parcel or lot of land has such position shape marks and dimensions as are more particularly and delineated on the diagram or plan attached hereto and thereon colored in PINK AND IN THE MATTER OF THE Quieting Titles Act 1959 IN THE MATTER OF THE Petition of MAE WALLACE HIGGS NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that MAE WALLACE HIGGS of the Western District of the Island of New Providence one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas is applying to the Supreme Court to have her title to the following land investigated to be granted by the said Court in accordance with the provisions of the said Act: ALL THAT piece parcel lot of land Lot No. Eleven (11) comprising one (1) Acre of land and originally granted to Edward George situate in Adelaide Village in the Western District of the Island of New Providence NORTHWARDLY and running thereon Two hundred and Thirty-one (231) feet EASTWARDLY running thereon One hundred Ninety - two (192) feet and running thereon Two hundred and Twenty - four (224) feet SOUTHWARDLY bounded by swamp land and running thereon One hundred and Fifty (150) feet WESTWARDLY, which said piece parcel or lot of land has such position shape marks and dimensions as are more particularly described and delineated on the
Copies of the Plan may be inspected during normal office hours at the following places: (A)
The Registry of The Supreme Court, British American Building, By Street, in the City of Nassau, or
(b)
The Chambers of WILVER W. DELEVEAUX at No.11 Sandra Avenue Sunset Park Carmi chael Road, Nassau Bahamas.
ANY PERSON who objects to the granting of the said Certificate of Title is required to file in the Supreme Court and serve on the Petitioner or their Attorney a Statement of its, his or her Claim in the prescribed Form, verified by an Addidavit and other related documents to be filed therewith by the 1st day of March, A.D., 2020 FAILURE OF ANY PERSON to file and serve a Statement of its, his or her Claim together with the related documents by the 1st day of March, A.D., 2020, will operate as a bar to such claim WILVER W. DELEVEAUX Attorneys for the Petitioner
PAGE 8, Monday, March 16, 2020
To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394
THE TRIBUNE
CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF THE CHILDREN AT RANFURLY
T
he Ranfurly Homes for Children has been a safe haven for thousands of Bahamian children since 1956. The Home provides a safe, structured environment for children who have been orphaned, abused, neglected or abandoned. YOU can make a difference in the lives of the children at Ranfurly. With your support children can have nutritious food, warm beds and a safe environment where they can discover the joy of being children. For years the children living and learning at Ranfurly have made great social and academic strides. Their further development requires additional support in the form of a Transitional Home, planned for construction on the Ranfurly property. This residence will cater to teenagers and young adults who are beyond school age, but need accommodation while they find work and gain independence from the Home. We look forward to your continued support in this worthwhile endeavour.
MEMBERSHIP PACKAGES Individuals, Families & Corporate Sponsors Children Helping Children - $5 (Individual children from ages 6 - 18) Individuals Helping Children - $50 (Individual adults 18 years and over) Families Helping Children - $100
CIRCLE of FRIENDS Silver: $1,500 - $2,499 Gold: $2,500 - $4,999 Platinum: $5,000 plus
OPPORTUNITIES • • • •
Invitations to Ranfurly events Assist with fundraising events Involvement with special activities Adults are eligible to join the Board after three months • Stay in touch with Ranfurly through website and newsletters
BENEFITS
• Personal fulfillment in knowing you are impacting lives • Ranfurly children’s appreciation and positive response • Continued support provides stability and constant care
For more information visit: www.ranfurlyhome.org Please “Like” us on Facebook Ranfurly Home for Children, Mackey Street P.O. Box 1413 Nassau, Bahamas 242-393-3115
Career Opportunity Scotia Wealth Management is seeking the services of a
Executive Assistant Position Summary: Contributes to the overall success of the Vice President’s Office, Scotiatrust, The Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Company (Bahamas) Limited in The Bahamas ensuring specific individual goals, plans, initiatives are executed / delivered in support of the team’s business strategies and objectives. Ensures all activities conducted are in compliance with governing regulations, internal policies and procedures.
Key Accountabilities for this role: • Champions a customer focused culture to deepen client relationships and leverage broader Bank relationships, systems and knowledge. • The Executive Assistant is responsible for coordinating the Office of the Vice President’s Office; controlling, managing and delegating work as appropriate to ensure the overall success and professional completion of high level operational functions of the Vice President’s inclusive of the external roles assumed by virtue of the office. • The Executive Assistant will have a genuine appreciation for and understanding of protocol, discretion and professionalism, is able to accept and assume responsibility, and has the ability to interpret and make decisions in accordance with prescribed procedures and practices of the organization. To do so, the incumbent manages, coordinates and administers support in both a proactive and responsive manner and provides full administration services of a complex and highly confidential nature • Respond to requests from executive members, Country Heads and Business lines, resolve issues and guide team members to mutually beneficial alternatives when required. • Proactively organizing the Vice President’s meetings with Direct Reports and others also coordinating presentation information/materials necessary and liaising with Senior Management to ensure completion of overall process. • Coordinates and distributes communication to Trust Board Members and Senior Management Officers including board members of external contacts. • Preparing comprehensive responses/reports within established timeframes and initiating any action necessary to conclusively resolve issues arising as a result of same. • Researching and reviewing data from a variety of sources, draft, prepare and route correspondence for Vice President including presentations for meetings. • Coordinate and organize executive management activities such as group and individual touch-bases, town halls, executive visits, planning of executive team meetings/off-site and other meetings as necessary. • Manage corporate membership for SBL Albany employees. • Support the ongoing management of Scotiabank Asia. • Support the office management of Albany. • Maintain records and external contact information for VP. • Human Resources: Provide backup and support in the absence of the Senior Human Resources Officer by ensuring that confidential HR matters are dealt with in a timely manner. Confidentiality and the highest ethical behavioral standards are required for this position. • Understand how the Bank’s risk appetite and risk culture should be considered in day-to-day activities and decisions. • Actively pursues effective and efficient operations of his/her respective areas, while ensuring the adequacy, adherence to and effectiveness of day-to-day business controls to meet obligations with respect to operational risk, regulatory compliance risk, AML/ATF risk and conduct risk, including but not limited to responsibilities under the Operational Risk Management Framework, Regulatory Compliance Risk Management Framework, AML/ATF Global Handbook and the Guidelines for Business Conduct. • Champions a high performance environment and implements a people strategy that attracts, retains, develops and motivates their team by fostering an inclusive work environment; communicating vison/values/business strategy and managing succession and development planning for the team.
Educational/Competency Requirements: • Bachelor’s degree in business administration or related field preferred. • IAAP Certified Administrative Professional or professional certification in office management preferred. • Minimum of 5 years work experience as an Executive Assistant or similar role reporting directly to senior management. • Proficient computer skills, including Microsoft Office Suite (Work, PowerPoint, and Excel); scheduling appointments/ updating calendars a must.
Qualified candidates should submit C.V. via email to: hrbahamas@scotiawealth.com on or before Monday, March 16th, 2020. Please note that only those individuals short-listed for an interview will be contacted.
™Trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia, used under licence (where applicable).
THE TRIBUNE
Fed takes emergency steps to slash rates and ease bank rules
WASHINGTON Associated Press THE Federal Reserve took massive emergency action yesterday to help the economy withstand the coronavirus by slashing its benchmark interest rate to near zero and saying it would buy $700bn in Treasury and mortgage bonds. The Fed’s surprise announcement signaled its worry that the viral outbreak will depress economic growth in coming months and that it is prepared to do whatever it can counter the risks. It cut its key rate by a full percentage point — to a range between zero and 0.25% — and said it would keep it there until it feels confident that the economy can survive a sudden nearshutdown of economic activity in the United States. The central bank will buy at least $500bn of Treasury securities and at least $200bn of mortgage-backed securities. This amounts to an effort to ease market disruptions that have made it harder for banks and large investors to sell Treasuries as well as to keep longerterm rates borrowing rates down. The new purchases will be similar to the several rounds of “quantitative easing”, or QE, that the Fed conducted during and after the Great Recession to bolster the financial system and the economy. The Fed is also joining
Monday, March 16, 2020, PAGE 9 in a coordinated global action, with the the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank, to provide cheap dollar credit to banks. This move is intended to ensure that foreign banks continue to have access to dollars that they lend to overseas companies. In an audio news conference yesterday night, Chairman Jerome Powell, pictured, explained the Fed’s actions, in part, by noting that “when stresses arise in the Treasury market, they can reverberate throughout financial markets and the entire economy”. Powell said the Fed acted yesterday after having decided to meet this weekend in lieu of the meeting its policy committee had been scheduled to hold tomorrow and Wednesday this week. He also said the central bank decided not to issue its usual quarterly projections for the economy and interest rates this week because the virus is altering the economic picture too quickly to make such projections useful. US stock futures began falling after the Fed’s announcement. Futures for the S&P 500 index dropped 4%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.7%. Gold prices rose 3.5%. All told, the Fed’s massive response is intended to keep financial markets functioning and lending flowing to businesses and consumers. Otherwise, as revenue dries up for countless small businesses that have suddenly lost customers, these employers could be forced to lay off workers or even seek bankruptcy protection in some cases. “This is a break-the-glass moment” for the Fed, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “They are throwing everything they’ve got at this. My sense is they must be nervous about the credit system not functioning properly. They are trying to shore up confidence.” By aggressively slashing its benchmark short-term rate and pumping hundreds of billions of dollars
into the financial system, the Fed’s moves yesterday recalled the emergency action it took at the height of the financial crisis. Starting in 2008, the Fed cut its key rate to near zero and kept it there for seven years. The central bank has now returned that rate — which influences many consumer and business loans — to its record-low level. The move drew rare praise from President Donald Trump, who
had attacked the Fed as recently as Saturday, as he has frequently, for not acting quickly or aggressively enough. “It make me very happy,” Trump said as he opened a White House briefing on the coronavirus. “I think that people and the markets should be very thrilled.” One dissenting Fed member, Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Federal Reserve, voted
yesterday against the fullpoint rate cut, favouring a half-point cut instead. She did support the Fed’s other actions to boost credit markets. As more businesses across the country see their revenue dwindle as consumers stay home, many of them will seek short-term loans to maintain their payrolls. The Fed said it has dropped its normal requirement that banks hold cash equal to 10%
of its customers’ deposits, thereby allowing banks to lend that money instead. It also said banks can use additional cash buffers that were imposed after the 2008 financial crisis for lending. “The Federal Reserve,” its statement yesterday said, “is prepared to use its full range of tools to support the flow of credit to households and businesses and thereby promote its maximum employment and price stability goals.”
PAGE 16, Monday, March 16, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
NOTICE
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that ARLENE DURONNE of Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 9th day of March 2020 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE is hereby given that MIREILLE DUVERNY of East Street, Nassau, Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 9th day of March 2020 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
HARBOURSIDE MARINE
Is seeking to fill the following CAPTAIN • Must have a license • Must have experience running commercial vessels Send all inquiries to: ian@hbsmarine.com
LEGAL NOTICE
NOTICE RMPG Limited ___________________ Pursuant to the Provision of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act 2000 notice is hereby given that the above-named Company has been dissolved and struck off the Register pursuant to a Certificate of Dissolution issued by the Registrar General on the 26th day of November, 2019
MARKET REPORT
AMICORP BAHAMAS MANAGEMENT LIMITED
www.bisxbahamas.com
(242) 323-2330
FRIDAY, 13 MARCH 2020
LIQUIDATOR Of RMPG Limited
(242) 323-2320
ALL SHARE INDEX: CLOSE: 2,216.41 | CHG: 19.87 | %CHG: 0.90 | YTD: -15.19 | YTD%: -0.68 BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.45 22.65 7.00 6.70 2.60 2.00 5.47 12.77 6.17 4.50 10.75 3.64 5.10 10.88 8.00 16.99 9.40 4.08 15.20
52WK LOW 3.35 20.91 5.50 5.38 1.96 0.67 2.00 10.01 5.60 3.89 6.10 2.53 1.76 8.00 6.40 14.00 6.98 3.14 13.85
SECURITY AML Foods Limited APD Limited Bahamas Property Fund Bahamas Waste Bank of Bahamas Benchmark Cable Bahamas CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank Colina Holdings Commonwealth Bank Commonwealth Brewery Consolidated Water BDRs Doctor's Hospital Emera Incorporated Famguard Fidelity Bank Finco Focol J. S. Johnson
SYMBOL AML APD BPF BWL BOB BBL CAB CIB CHL CBL CBB CWCB DHS EMAB FAM FBB FIN FCL JSJ
1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00
1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00
Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Fidelity Bank Class A Focol Class B
CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB
PREFERENCE SHARES
1.00 10.00 1.00
1.00 10.00 1.00
CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00
52WK LOW 100.00
115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
SECURITY Fidelity Bank Note 22 (Series B) +
SYMBOL FBB22
Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2015-1-3Y BGS: 2014-12-5Y BGS: 2015-1-5Y BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-3Y BGS: 2015-6-5Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-3Y BGS: 2015-10-5Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y
BAH29 BG0203 BG0105 BG0205 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0303 BG0305 BG0307 BG0330 BG0403 BG0405 BG0407
BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing)
LAST CLOSE 3.50 17.43 6.00 6.68 2.10 1.62 3.00 11.95 6.00 4.20 6.10 3.07 5.06 8.40 8.00 15.08 8.97 3.72 15.20
CLOSE 3.55 17.43 6.00 6.68 2.10 1.62 3.00 12.00 6.00 4.20 6.10 3.13 5.06 9.18 8.00 15.08 8.97 4.08 15.20
CHANGE 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.06 0.00 0.78 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.36 0.00
1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00
1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
CLOSE 100.00
CHANGE 0.00
107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
LAST SALE 100.00 107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
VOLUME 1,000 100
1,500
2,000
VOLUME
EPS$ 0.239 0.932 1.760 0.369 0.070 0.000 -0.438 0.722 0.449 0.184 0.140 0.102 0.467 0.646 0.728 0.816 0.939 0.203 0.631
DIV$ 0.170 1.260 0.000 0.260 0.000 0.020 0.000 0.720 0.220 0.120 0.000 0.434 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.540 0.200 0.120 0.610
P/E 14.9 18.7 N/M 18.1 N/M N/M -6.8 16.6 13.4 22.8 43.6 30.7 10.8 14.2 11.0 18.5 9.6 20.1 24.1
0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
YIELD 4.79% 7.23% 0.00% 3.89% 0.00% 1.23% 0.00% 6.00% 3.67% 2.86% 0.00% 13.87% 1.19% 3.57% 3.00% 3.58% 2.23% 2.94% 4.01% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%
INTEREST Prime + 1.75%
MATURITY 19-Oct-2022
6.95% 4.00% 4.25% 4.25% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.00% 4.25% 4.50% 6.25% 3.50% 3.88% 4.25%
20-Nov-2029 30-Jul-2018 16-Dec-2019 30-Jul-2020 15-Dec-2021 30-Jul-2022 15-Dec-2044 30-Jul-2045 26-Jun-2018 26-Jun-2020 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2018 15-Oct-2020 15-Oct-2022
YTD% 12 MTH% 0.37% 3.81% 0.24% 4.38% 0.23% 2.75% 5.76% 5.76% 12.81% 12.81% 0.58% 4.04% -1.09% 5.26% 0.22% 4.45% 2.29% 9.61% 11.57% 11.57% 18.35% 18.35% 5.17% 5.17% 15.86% 15.86% 5.67% 5.67% 3.40% 3.40% N/A N/A 10.80% 2.60% 10.40% -4.00%
NAV Date 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019
MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.30 4.38 2.09 195.13 166.73 1.67 1.83 1.76 1.23 8.34 10.26 6.94 12.01 12.35 10.74 10.00 8.98 11.79
52WK LOW 1.67 3.30 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.67 1.83 1.76 1.23 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20
FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund Leno Preferred Income Fund Leno Growth Fund Leno Diversified Fund Leno Global USD Bond Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Equities Sub Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - High Yield Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Alternative Strategies Fund Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F
NAV 2.30 4.38 2.09 195.13 166.73 1.67 1.83 1.76 1.23 8.34 10.23 6.94 12.01 12.35 10.73 N/A 8.98 11.40
MARKET TERMS
BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00 52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks 52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume Change - Change in closing price from day to day Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings
YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths NAV - Net Asset Value N/M - Not Meaningful
TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | COLONIAL 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225 | BENCHMARK 242-326-7333
LEGAL NOTICE
NOTICE
30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000 Notice is here by given that LETEX LIMITED COMPANY LIMITED is in dissolution and the date of commencement of the dissolution is the 13th March, 2020. The Liquidator of said company is ELCO CORPORATE SERVICES LTD. Located at Loyalist Plaza, Don Mackay Blvd. P.O.Box AB 20377 Marsh Harbour Abaco Bahamas