business@tribunemedia.net
FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2024
$5.80
$5.85
$5.92
Fund manager to be ‘little more defensive’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN investment bank plans to be “a little more defensive” in 2024 with its stock picks as it targets close to $20m annual asset growth in its main equities investment fund. David Slatter, RF Bank & Trust (Bahamas) vice-president of investments, told Tribune Business that expectations of slower Bahamian economic growth as the postCOVID revival peters out means he will focus more on “solid dividend payers” and stocks that “can weather an economic downturn” when he makes equity investments for its fund family this year. The Targeted Equity Fund, which is its Bahamian dollar-denominated fund most weighted towards equity investments in stocks and shares, saw its net asset value (NAV) increase by 5
t #VU 3' JOWFTUNFOUT DIJFG TUJMM UBSHFUJOH HSPXUI t 1SFEJDUT NBJO FRVJUZ GVOE UP FYQBOE ABCPWF N t 4IJGUT GSPN HSPXUI UP EJWJEFOE TUPDLT BT (%1 TMPXT percent last year with further improvement - albeit slight anticipated in 2024. Mr Slatter told this newspaper that the Targeted Equity Fund had enjoyed a “slow start” to the year, with its NAV up by just 1.36 percent for the first quarter, but he pointed out that maintaining this growth rate over the next three quarters will translate into an approximate 5.4 percent increase for the full year. That, RF’s investment chief added, would be “a little bit better than last year but not the same growth as previous
years” with the Targeted Equity Fund having averaged annual 10.6 percent NAV growth over the past nine years. Mr Slatter is hoping to move closer to that average in 2024, forecasting up to 7 percent growth for an investment fund that presently has $121m in assets under administration. “That’s growing nicely,” he told Tribune Business. “It’s primarily Bahamian exposure. We have a small amount of international exposure, 5 percent, and 95 percent local. We do have a private equity
BOUTIQUE Eleuthera resorts yesterday asserted that “business is booming” amid growing pressure for a switch to year-round tourism and halt to many properties closing during late summer and fall.
Dean Spychalla, general manager at Pineapple Fields, told the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference that the resort’s revenues are $100,000 ahead of projection for present financial year-to-date as he credited COVID with providing a totally new “repeat visitor” model for Family Island hotels. “Pineapple Fields is doing quite well,” he told attendees.
“This fiscal year we are already, and we’re a small hotel; we’re $100,000 ahead of projected revenue for the fiscal year with our history forecast. What do I mean by that? That means in the books, and future reservations on the books through the end of the fiscal year, so we’re $100,000 ahead of budget now with months to increase that.
DAVID SLATTER position of around 8 percent of the portfolio. That means if 13 percent of the portfolio is in private equity and US dollars, 87 percent is in Bahamian dollars.” Revealing that he plans to reduce the weighting of the Targeted Equity Fund’s largest Bahamian holdings, Mr Slatter added: “The largest positions, and they’ve come
SEE PAGE B6
“So we’re looking quite good. From a business point of view, revenge travel is over, but I think this concept of persons because of COVID experiencing smaller resorts due to the social distancing requirements has kind of created a new market. “People that didn’t go to these kind of islands in
SEE PAGE B5
‘Turbo charged’ Eleuthera properties get ‘real buyers’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net Realtors yesterday hailed Eleuthera’s “turbo charged” real estate market and revealed they are now dealing with “real buyers” for major land parcels as opposed to the pre-COVID speculators. John Christie, HG Christie’s president and broker, told the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference that the property market throughout the island, as well as Harbour Island and Spanish Wells, is set to remain strong with realtors now “running out of inventory” in its international segment.
JOHN CHRISTIE Disclosing that Spanish Wells in particular is “shooting up, shooting up”, and that “we haven’t seen the top of it”, he added: “I think we all know, everyone in the business knows,
SEE PAGE B4
Disney’s Eleuthera port to receive first vessel June 7 By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net DISNEY Cruise Line’s Lighthouse Point destination will open to its first vessel call on June 7 with the project expected to be substantially completed “in a couple of days”. Joseph Gaskins, the cruise line’s regional public affairs director for The Bahamas and Caribbean, told the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference: “Our first sailing is on June 7, so the first ship will arrive at Lighthouse Point alongside on June 7, hoping that the weather and the seas
are fine. We’re looking at substantial completion in a couple of days and opened to guests fully in June 2024.” He added that the project will open with an “all Bahamian leadership team”, and the development has maintained an 80 percent Bahamian staff in accordance with its Heads of Agreement obligations. Mr Gaskins said: ‘We will be opening with an allBahamian leadership team, so everyone from island director to every manager on site will be Bahamian and we’re very, very proud of that. We have maintained an 80 percent balance
SEE PAGE B5
American threatened Eluethera growth if airport not enhanced t .JOJTUFS (PW U IBE UXP NPOUIT UP BEESFTT DPODFSO t 0UIFSXJTF BJSMJOF XPVME IBMU EJSFDU SPVUF FYQBOTJPO t (PWFSOPS T )BSCPVS HFUT N OPX GPS 3PDL 4PVOE By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
‘Business booming’ but hotels eye year-round tourism switch By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
$5.96
A CABINET minister yesterday revealed that American Airlines threatened to pull out of its Governor’s Harbour route expansion if $6m in airport upgrades were not completed within two months. Clay Sweeting, minister of works CLAY SWEETING and Family Island affairs, told the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference he had barely been appointed to his new Cabinet position when he received a November 2023 phone call warning that the US carrier would back away from flying directly to Governor’s Harbour three times a week from Miami if the airport improvements were not completed by January 27. He disclosed the drama in answering a question from Kerry Fountain, the Bahamas Out Island Promotion Board’s executive director, who queried when upgrades would be carried out to another of Eleuthera’s airports at Rock Sound. Until this happened, Rock Sound will remain rated ‘tier two” by US aviation regulators, which serves as a deterrent to airlines such as Maker’s Air offering more frequent service. “I think that sometimes people look at number two and not what the potential is,” Mr Sweeting replied. “So the tier level really doesn’t matter to me because Governor’s Harbour is tier two, too. I don’t know if you knew that they only moved it to tier one when I agitated a little bit. “So I got a phone call in November. They said: ‘Look, American said if that airport isn’t done by January 27, they will pull out’. So being the new minister of works, that’s how
SEE PAGE B4