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port GB Power sale not closed Cruise hits back at exas ex-PM makes IPO case tenants chief’s PM BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net GRAND Bahama Power Company’s owner has confirmed its sale to the Government has yet to be finalised as an ex-prime minister joined the Opposition’s leader in calling for Bahamian investors to be offered shares in the utility once any deal closes. Dr Hubert Minnis and Michael Pintard, for once, both appeared to be united as they each separately urged the Government not to retain 100 percent of GB Power but, instead, steadily reduce its stake post-acquisition by issuing shares to Bahamian institutional and retail investors as a means to boost wealth creation and local ownership of the country’s economy. However, before any initial public offering (IPO) can take place, the Davis administration first has to close its purchase of GB Power with the Canadian utility giant, Emera. The latter, in a late Monday night reply to Tribune Business inquiries after press deadline, revealed that the Government has yet to seal the deal although negotiations
GRAND BAHAMA POWER COMPANY HEADQUARTERS
Emera: ‘Constructive’ discussions but no sealed deal yet Minnis and Pintard united in urging shaes for Bahamians Former PM seeks ‘bottom up’ structure for small investors
DR HUBERT MINNIS
Gas station operators face multiple cost rises BY ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN gas station operators yesterday voiced concern over swiftly-rising fuel costs and VAT’s elimination on uncooked foods as they warned they must increase prices to survive amid the fall-out from Middle East conflict. Bernard 'Porky' Dorsett, operator of Porky’s Rubis Service Station, said petroleum retailers can only “keep our fingers and toes crossed for better” as the industry braces for higher prices from its suppliers - Rubis, Esso and FOCOL Holdings (Shell) - due to the spike in global crude oil prices. And the elimination of VAT on unprepared foods means they will be unable to reclaim VAT paid on input expenses associated with these products, further exacerbating cost and inflationary pressures for an industry that operates on fixed gasoline and diesel margins. This, Mr Dorsett added, means gas station operators must increases prices in their convenience stores, while gasoline prices at the pump will inevitably increase due to the rising cost of imported petroleum. “Our fuel prices are based on what we buy from the suppliers,” Mr Dorsett said. “Whatever it is, they add the 10 percent VAT plus the cost of the margin. Our margin right now is 76 cents on every gallon of fuel. “See, our only difference is the higher fuel go up, the higher the VAT go. So the higher fuel go up, the less money we make, because we only make 76 cents on a gallon of fuel based on whether its sold at $10 a gallon or sold at $2 a gallon because we work on a fixed margin... “If fuel prices drop, then our percentage is better. But as fuel starts to move [higher] our margins just continue to drop, because we buying fuel at a higher cost. We have to sell it at the same 76 cents on a gallon. The only difference is the Government make more money because the VAT go up; because the VAT is 10 percent or whatever the cost is.” Speaking to the VAT elimination om uncooked food, Mr Dorsett added: “We can't recover the money… That's
PRICING - See Page B2
between the two parties remain active. “Emera confirms constructive discussions remain ongoing with the Government of The Bahamas regarding an acquisition of the Grand Bahama Power Company,” a spokesperson confirmed in an e-mailed response. “No final agreement has been reached at this time.” While the two sides have already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), Emera said the Government’s proposed GB Power purchase remained only an “option” and was just one of the routes discussions could take. Emera’s confirmation that no sale has yet been finalised is likely to raise questions during today’s House of Assembly debate on two resolutions, seeking Parliament’s approval for the Government to guarantee $280m worth of borrowings to finance GB Power’s purchase and working capital for the utility, over why the Davis administration is seeking to put these arrangements in place with such seeming haste and urgency given
MICHAEL PINTARD
ELECTRICITY See Page B5
Retailers bracing for ‘inevitable’ cost hike BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN consumers are being warned to brace for “inevitable” hikes in the cost of commodities such as electronics and clothing post-Easter as retailers begin to replenish their inventory amid ongoing fall-out from the Middle East conflict. Mark A Turnquest, founder of the 242 Small Business Association and Resource Centre, and a well-known consultant to the sector, told Tribune Business that his members and clients are expecting to feel the effects of increased supply chain costs - resulting from higher global crude oil, fuel and energy prices - when they start to purchase and order stock for summer and the remainder of the year. While Bahamians shoppers will enjoy “stabilised” Easter prices, as retailers will have
purchased and imported these goods ahead of the US and Israel’s end-February assault on Iran, he added that the inflationary effects for this nation will depend on how long the conflict and its economic consequences last with the impact potentially being felt through the ‘Black Friday’ and Christmas seasons. “Right now they are expecting an increase in prices from their end,” Mr Turnquest told this newspaper of his electronic and clothing retail clients. “They most definitely will have to go up on prices for the summer, Black Friday and Christmas. They don’t know how much at the moment. They are watching the shipping cost increases and the inflationary pressures, and waiting to see how much prices will go up. “The hope, of course, is that the Trump debacle stops immediately so that prices stabilise,
THE PRIME Minister yesterday warned that the Opposition’s plan to eliminate the Post Office Savings Bank would disrupt access to banking services for more than 35,000 Family Island residents and endanger almost jobs. Philip Davis KC, in a statement, argued that such a move would remove a key financial lifeline for many Bahamians, particularly in areas where commercial banks have scaled back services or withdrawn entirely. “He is prepared to shut down a public institution that serves Bahamian families, pensioners, workers and small savers across our archipelago. He is prepared to place Bahamian jobs at risk,” said Mr Davis of Michael Pintard, the Opposition leader. “He is prepared to tear away a service that many Family Island
Working/sanitary and local entertainment concerns raised Vendor sounds fears over lease renewals on ‘fair terms’ But Port says her toilet facility violated health regulations BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER tenants association head yesterday asserted she feels “confident something will be done” as the Nassau Cruise Port pushed back against her complaints over working and sanitary conditions, concerns over whether leases will be renewed “on fair terms” and the alleged lack of Bahamian entertainment and culture. Yvette Prince, who was president of the Tenants Association of Festival Place for 20 years prior to its replacement by the $330m Nassau Cruise Port transformation, in a letter to the Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers and senior tourism and port officials voiced particular concern that the Prince George Wharf facility lacks sufficient functioning bathrooms to
but they say prices are going up and that’s just how it is. A lot of them have indicated that the inflationary pressures, when they occur, affect us a lot because they cannot make adjustments fast enough.” Volatile oil markets, which have endured a roller-coaster ride since the Middle East conflict erupted, dipped below $100 per barrel as Tribune Business went to press last night amid hopes that the warring parties may be starting talks to end the conflict. Oil prices surged after Iran effectively cut-off the flow of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargos must pass on their way to market. All economic sectors are impacted in some way by oil, and the energy and transportation costs that feed off it. While supply chain time lags will delay the impact, The Bahamas will soon start feeling the effect once industries - including retail - sell-off pre-war stock and need to replenish inventories, with higher shipping costs and other increases set to be
PM blasts Opposition’s Savings Bank threat to 35,000 depositors BY FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
complaints letter
communities rely on. And he is prePHILIP DAVIS KC tending the Government has the power to order private, foreign-owned commercial banks to do what they have already chosen to stop doing.” His comments came in response to remarks made by Mr Pintard at a recent campaign launch, where he outlined a proposal aimed at expanding banking access across underserved communities. “If you have challenges with your government because your government left you in south and central Andros with no banks, I just want you to know we got to make sure you have a bank in South Andros, that you have it in our Family Islands,” said Mr Pintard. “We will abolish the bank through the Post Office system and work with the clearing house to
CHANGE - See Page B2
accommodate herself, other vendors and staff, and the thousands of tourists who pass through daily. She argued that the number of bathroom stalls at the expanded Nassau Cruise Port, which is capable of handling six ships and 30,000-plus passengers per day, is less than the number that was inside the much smaller Festival Place facility. And Ms Prince also alleged that she is being “targeted” after being told to remove a toilet from inside her vendor’s booth at the Nassau Cruise Port. However, the downtown Nassau-based operator last night told Tribune Business that Ms Prince had installed the toilet without the necessary permissions and approvals from both itself and the Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS). It added
FACILITIES - See Page B4
MARK A TURNQUEST passed on to consumers unable to absorb any, or some, in their profit margins, “They say prices will remain the same, stabilise for Easter,” Mr Turnquest said of his Bahamian retail members and clients, “but then there’s no guarantee unfortunately. In this world, a lot of people have to realise that when Trump came to power they had make adjustments in preparation for price increases consistently. “What occurred last year, the shocks were minimised, so there was no great disruption
IMPACT - See Page B2