business@tribunemedia.net
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2025
$5.40 $5.08
$5.46
$5.43
$5.55
Ex-FNM chair is receiver for Elliott Lockhart assets By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER FNM chairman and senator is the Supreme Courtappointed receiver charged with selling-off assets owned by an ex-MP and Supreme Court judge in a bid to recover millions of dollars for his alleged victims. Darron Cash yesterday confirmed to Tribune Business “that is correct” when contacted by this newspaper over advertisements identifying him as the receiver seeking bids on the former law offices of Elliott Lockhart KC and his Lockhart & Co law firm by 1pm this Friday, May 25.
• Ex-MP and judge’s law offices for sale ‘by court order’ • $3m victim: ‘Definitely dark side’ to Bahamas investing • ‘Surprised’ legal profession has not condemned actions
Insurer eyeing $1m profit fall after 2024’s 64% jump • RoyalStar beat last year’s forecast by 15% • Aided by 25% higher motor line on repricing • Core insurance net income more than doubles By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN insurer yesterday revealed competitive pressures will likely cause about a $1m drop in 2025 profits in the absence of hurricane payouts following last year’s 64 percent net income increase. Anton Saunders, RoyalStar Holdings’ president and chief executive, told Tribune Business that rival property and casualty underwriters are likely to follow its lead in re-pricing their motor coverage in line with elevated risks after this drove profits from this product line some 25 percent higher than the group’s 2024 expectations. As a result of this and other gains, Royal Star Holdings, which serves as the group’s parent entity, enjoyed a near-$5m or 64 percent increase in total comprehensive income to $12.521m for the 12 months to end-December 2024 as opposed to the $7.633m achieved for the prior year. These gains largely came from its core insurance underwriting business, RoyalStar Assurance, which saw net income more than double year-over-year. It increased by 112 percent
to $10.963m compared to $5.169m for the 2023 calendar year, although the latter year’s total comprehensive income was inflated by a $1.888m gain from a property revaluation. “It was above budget; slightly above budget,” Mr Saunders told this newspaper of RoyalStar’s 2024 profits. Detailing the factors that drove this surge, he explained that property coverage - where reinsurance costs remain at their peak - was not the primary factor behind last year’s performance. “What drove the profits was more other classes of business, especially motor,” Mr Saunders said. “Three years ago we decided to purge our motor account. We increased third-party motor insurance premiums knowing we would lose market share across all our territories. “We purged and lost market share, but the motor account improved drastically. We didn’t believe the third party motor vehicle premium rates that we wanted to purge were aligned with our goals as a company. People were paying $300 in premium for $30m worth of coverage.
SEE PAGE B5
He declined to comment further, but this newspaper understands he has been charged with taking possession of, securing and selling real estate and other assets owned by Mr Lockhart in a bid to recover funds the latter purportedly took from several foreign investors for Bahamian real estate transactions that he never completed. And, despite failing to deliver what was promised, the ex-MP and judge never returned the monies. Tribune Business contacts, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk publicly, confirmed that Mr Cash’s remit is to maximise the purchase price
received for all real estate and other assets identified as being owned by Mr Lockhart with the sales proceeds used to compensate the latter’s creditors. “The court was provided with a specific set of properties, and those are the properties that come within the ambit of the work of the receiver,” one source explained. Besides Mr Lockhart’s former law offices at 35 Buen Retiro Road off Shirley Street, which are now being advertised for sale, other assets that could be targeted include his personal residence, with a last known address listed as 67 Ocean Drive, Adelaide Village.
BUSINESSES in the Joe Farrington Road area yesterday voiced fears that they will be facing “a nightmare” this summer as a result of Water & Sewerage Corporation infrastructure upgrades valued at around $1m. Giovanna Rahming, Bahama Clear Drinking Water and Ice’s owner, and Garfield Johnson, Amanda’s Convenience Store proprietor while
both backing the need for improvements warned that commerce in the area may take a hit from the challenges consumers may have in accessing businesses due to roadworks and associated closures. Despite pledges “that most of the disruptive work will be carried out overnight between 9pm and 5am to minimise the impact on businesses”, Ms Rahming and Mr Johnson are still concerned the timing may not be right. Ms Rahming told Tribune Business she was informed that the project would take
ELLIOTT LOCKHART KC
‘We must see it through’ as Montagu billboards removed By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net CAMPAIGNERS hailed yesterday’s clean-up and removal of multiple business billboard advertisements at Fort Montagu Park, but warned: “We have to see it through to its total restoration.” Loretta Butler-Turner, who helped drive the location’s restoration and clean-up when she was the area’s MP between 2007 and 2012, told Tribune Business she had personally witnessed staff from the Beaches and Parks Authority - including its executive chairman, McKell Bonaby - on-site yesterday taking down many of the billboards that had provoked alarm about the commercial takeover of a dedicated public space.
Revealing that she stopped and spoke with both Mr Bonaby and other Authority staff, the ex-MP and Cabinet minister said she was informed that “this is more than Fort Montagu” as the agency is also dealing with unauthorised, excessive signage in areas such as Saunders Beach as well as other areas throughout New Providence. Meanwhile Bruce Raine, founder of International Private Banking Systems (IPBS), the Bahamas-based financial services software developer, who launched a petition that gained more than 400 signatures demanding that the Fort Montagu signage be removed, told this newspaper his wife “didn’t know where she was” when driving along East Bay Street after many of the billboards had been removed.
FOLLOWING yesterday’s removal of numerous billboard advertisements, drivers on East Bay Street now have a much clearer view over Montagu Bay. Estimating that the number of ‘offending’ signs has been cut by almost two-thirds, from around 17 to six, he urged that the authorities now move rapidly to address Fort Montagu’s other woes including the presence of bar/restaurant, food and beverage and
souvenir vendors, and whether these persons have the necessary permissions to be there plus the relevant Business Licence, food handling and other permits. Also identified by Mr Raine and other
SEE PAGE B4
PM hails doubling of GB medical school’s campus By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A GRAND Bahamabased medical school will “near double” the size of its campus and student enrollment following the signing of its latest agreement with the Government, the Prime Minister is asserting. Philip Davis KC, speaking at the Heads of Agreement signing with Western Atlantic University School of Medicine, said that the deal will help “revolutionise our nation’s healthcare landscape” by also involving a partnership with the
Ministry of Education to offer scholarships to Bahamians. “Following the successful completion of phases one and two of the university’s development, we now move to advance phases three and four,” Mr Davis said. “I am pleased to note that the campus will see a near two-fold expansion in its facilities, supporting the accommodation of 1,000 medical students by January 2028. “Across all phases, the continued development of Western Atlantic University School of Medicine has generated hundreds of jobs for Bahamians. And it will continue to
Businesses fear ‘nightmare’ over water improvements By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net
SEE PAGE B4
DARRON CASH
place through the summer months, her busiest season in terms of customers, at a recent Town Hall meeting. While the “rusty water” issues in the area impact lavatory use at her firm, she is more focused on the noise, dust and detours the infrastructure project will bring, adding that she will have to find ways around it to keep business going. “They’re doing it in three phases,” Ms Rahming said. “I think they’re taking from Bay Lilly Road to Marigold Farm Road first. So they’re going to dig up in front of the business first.
My business is between those two roads. All we could do is watch it and try to mitigate it because I can’t control what they do. “And then they’re actually not replacing the pipe. The old pipes will be decommissioned, and they’re laying new pipe. So when they do the switch over, and they do all the testing, I’m sure water will have to be off during those times. “It doesn’t affect us because, like I say, the only thing we do is wash our hands and flush the
SEE PAGE B5
create enduring careers as its operations expand. In phase four, set to begin in late 2028, the campus will continue its physical expansion, with enrollment projected to more than double over the following decade to a total 2,300 students by April 2040.” William Colgan, chair of Western Atlantic University School of Medicine’s board
of directors, told Tribune Business in an interview in April 2024 that the planned $25m expansion will create 200 construction jobs. He voiced hope then that building work will start “in the next three months” once all necessary approvals are received given that ever-increasing student
SEE PAGE B9