business@tribunemedia.net
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
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RoyalStar targets $2m profits boost in Caribbean expansion BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN insurer is targeting an up to $2m increase in annual profits through expansion “further south” into the Caribbean, as its top executive yesterday asserted: “It’s all hands on deck.” Anton Saunders, RoyalStar Assurance’s managing director, told Tribune Business that the property and casualty underwriter is presently conducting the “feasibility studies” and other preparatory work before launching ambitions to expand beyond its existing regional presence in Anguilla, the Cayman Island, British and US Virgin Islands and Turks & Caicos. The move follows a strong 2025 which saw RoyalStar Holdings, the group’s parent company, enjoy a 39.4 percent jump in annual profits to $17.456m compared to $12.521m the year before - an increase of almost $5m. Much of the rise was driven by the insurer’s investments in its affiliates, which include Star General Insurance Agents & Brokers; the Gateway Ascendancy mortgage loan restructurer; and two Cayman-based entities, Vanguard Risk Solutions and RSA Risk Solutions. The former Cayman affiliate is an insurance broker and agent, while the latter is a captive insurance company. RoyalStar Holdings’ share of its
‘All hands on deck’ for insurer’s push ‘more south’ Near-$5m profits jump beats 2025 forecast by 15% Insurance costs to fall in 2027 - provided no hurricane affiliates’ collective profits increased more than six-fold in 2025, surging by almost $3.5m to jump to $4.059m from $673,453 the year before and accounting for the bulk of the parent’s total comprehensive income hike. And, while RoyalStar Assurance, the group’s property and casualty underwriting entity, saw a flat 2025 with net income slightly down at $10.64m compared to $10.963m in 2024, its parent also enjoyed a more than $1.8m gain on its $12.035m ‘insurance service result’ for last year. Mr Saunders, who disclosed to this newspaper that RoyalStar Holdings’ 2025 profits exceeded internal budget forecasts and expectations by 15 percent, said the group’s holding
BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS POWER & LIGHT (BPL) HQ
Grid operator bills BPL for $75.2m in first year BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net NEW Providence’s new grid operator yesterday asserted it has ”no reason to expect” Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) will fail to meet its financial obligations to it after billing the state-owned utility for a collective $75.2m in revenues during the first year. Gladys Fernander, Bahamas Grid Company’s chief financial officer, revealed that under the terms of its Heads of Agreement with the Government it had submitted invoices totalling $62.8m at an average of $6.9m per month, since it started billing BPL for its share of the transmission and distribution (T&D) revenues in April last year. Confirming that this collective sum has been paid, with BPL having around 30 days to pay the bill, she added that Bahamas Grid Company has so far submitted $12.4m in further invoices for 2026 to-date with only the March period as yet unpaid but not past due. The grid operator, under the terms of its Heads of Agreement, is entitled to be paid 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour (KWh) for the first five years of its deal from BPL’s grid revenues. Ms Fernander, meanwhile, added that Bahamas Grid Company is “well positioned to meet” its obligation to pay $4.4m in semi-annual interest, at a rate of 8 percent, to its $111m bondholders in July 2026. The grid operator previously paid $13.3m to the bond investors in January this year, representing
INVOICE - See Page B5
Key element in grid Heads of Agreement not performed Deprives Bahamas Grid’s $111m bond holders of security Means Gov’t/BPL yet to pay for 40% stake in new operator
BAHAMAS Grid Company’s newly-appointed chief executive yesterday asserted that the early exit of its managing partner less than two years into a 25-year deal “was always planned” - even though this is seemingly contradicted by the Heads of Agreement with the Government.
BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE transfer of New Providence’s electricity grid assets to their new operator has been delayed due to legal issues surrounding pre-existing liens and charges secured on them, it was confirmed yesterday. Senior Bahamas Grid Company executives, under questioning during a conference call with investment analysts, pledged that they would see the promised transfer of transmission and distribution (T&D) assets from Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) to their special purpose vehicle (SPV) “through to a conclusion” but did not provide a timeline for completion other than saying they would
COVERAGE - See Page B4
Dareo McKenzie told a conference call with Bahamian investment advisers and brokers that it was understood that the departure of Island Grid Solutions and its principal, J. Eric Pike, was likely to occur “once we were able to find qualified, capable Bahamians to run Bahamas Grid Company” - the special purpose vehicle (SPV) created to own and hold New
Providence’s transmission and distribution (T&D) grid. He was echoed by Anthony Ferguson, CFAL’s principal and the newly-installed Bahamas Grid Company chairman, who argued that “the intent” had always been for Bahamians to manage and operate the firm and, in so doing, eliminate the need for Island Grid’s services. He signalled that the ‘Bahamianisation’ drive, though, had been delayed and setback by the refusal of most of Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) 123 T&D personnel to transfer over to Bahamas Grid Company. Nevertheless, Mr Ferguson said Island Grid’s departure will provide a financial boost
Customs ramps up crack down over invoice fraud BY FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS Customs’ top executive yesterday said offices are ramping up enforcement against invoice fraud - a long-standing practice that continues to undermine government revenue. Ralph Munroe, Customs comptroller, said the enforcement and revenue collection agency is grappling with widespread invoice fraud as importers understate the value and quantity of goods to reduce duties that are payable to the Public Treasury. “The challenge we’re facing is a significant level of invoice fraud. That is where our difficulties lie,” said Mr Munroe. “What it means is that you may have an invoice where someone claims to have paid $1,000, but when you examine it, the true value may be
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Nassau energy grid transfer delayed on lien existence woe
company structure has “worked out tremendously for us”. He explained that, by splitting off the insurance underwriter from the group’s non-insurance investments, it has made RoyalStar Assurance “a stable” company that is easier to both regulate and and audit. And it has also aided RoyalStar’s investment strategy. “We were able to divert some of our investment money from The Bahamas,” Mr Saunders explained. “We have investments in Cayman, and we have investments in the US. We have foreign currency from those territories. Because of our overseas companies we foreign currency earnings from those territories we are able to invest in the US. We were able to take advantage of that and diversify the investment portfolio away from one territory.” The RoyalStar chief added that the insurer and its parent have also achieved their long-standing goal of diversifying its business mix, with 55 percent concentrated in The Bahamas and 45 percent in the other territories in which it operates. And it is now looking for even more diversification. “We have achieved that goal,” Mr Saunders told Tribune Business, “and we’re looking at where we go next. We have some ideas and plans. We are doing the feasibility studies now. We will be expanding into
‘Always planned’ grid manager exit contradicted by Gov’t deal
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closer to $600 - or even $500 - in some cases. “In other instances, they may say they purchased 1,000 items, but the invoice only reflects 800. When you scrutinise it, you find the numbers don’t match what is declared.” Mr Munroe said Customs also verifies declared values by comparing them with external data. “We also compare prices, whether online or directly with suppliers, and in some cases, we find that the values have been significantly understated,” he added. While describing the practice as long-standing, the top Customs official said enforcement efforts have intensified. “This is not new. It’s as old as time. The difference now is that we are placing greater focus on identifying and addressing it,” said Mr Munroe.
ENFORCE - See Page B5
ANTHONY FERGUSON “allow the procedure to take its course”. Anthony Ferguson, CFAL’s principal and now Bahamas Grid Company’s newly-installed chairman, ultimately conceded that the New Providence energy grid assets are currently “in escrow” while the new operator waits for the existing liens and charges secured
ELECTRICITY - See Page B4
to both Bahamas Grid Company’s $30m equity investors and $111m bondholders by now eliminating the annual $4.359m management fee equal to 5.8 percent of BPL’s grid revenues and payable monthly - that Island Grid was receiving due to its services no longer being required. He added that this sum will now “drop to the bottom line” of Bahamas Grid Company. However, assertions that Island Grid and Mr Pike’s early exits were “always planned” are contradicted by the Heads of Agreement that they and Bahamas Grid Company signed with the
GENERATE - See Page B5