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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2021
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‘Aggressive bar’ set by $40m cruise port loan By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A US institutional investor “has set a pretty aggressive bar” for other lenders to match by supplying Nassau Cruise Port with $40m towards its construction financing needs, its chief executive revealed yesterday. Michael Maura told Tribune Business the Prince George Wharf developer was talking to multiple other institutional lenders/investors about providing the remaining $60m-$70m in required debt funding, as he disclosed that this might be placed “in tranches” rather than via a second bond offering as previously planned. Besides confirming Nassau Cruise Port’s increased financial flexibility, Mr Maura also revealed the Government has
• US lender cuts debt needs to $60m/$70m • Cabinet Office ‘levelled’ in six to seven weeks • Confident $25m Bahamian IPO ‘oversubscribed’ NASSAU CRUISE PORT. given its contractor the go-ahead to “demolish and level” the Cabinet Office building in Rawson Square as well as the Adderley Building to which it is linked.
The demolition is forecast to last between six to seven weeks, with workers presently removing asbestos from the Churchill Building that contains the existing
Cabinet Office. Mr Maura said the site will then become a temporary green space and parking area for government employees prior to the construction of a new Cabinet Office location. The Nassau Cruise Port chief also voiced confidence that the
$25m initial public offering (IPO) of a collective 49 percent stake to small Bahamian retail investors, scheduled for October 2021, will be “oversubscribed” despite COVID-19’s impact on
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Gov’t urged: Get SOEs into procurement ‘fold’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net ANTI-CORRUPTION campaigners yesterday urged the Government to make it “a priority” that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) use the electronic procurement processes amid recent controversy over contract awards. Matt Aubry, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s (ORG) executive director, told Tribune Business that there was a perception that the likes of Bahamasair and the Water & Sewerage Corporation operate “outside the fold” as he called for them to be “brought into line with other areas of government” on tendering and bidding processes. The long-awaited Public Procurement Act comes into effect today just days after controversy erupted over the Water & Sewerage
• Campaigners urge: ‘Bring them into line’ with new Act • Anti-corruption group to call for stalled legislation’s revival • Effort key to reducing ‘corruption and maladministration’ Corporation’s 2018 awarding of cleaning, maintenance and painting contracts to Elite Maintenance, a company which was allegedly represented in a legal capacity by the then-financee of the utility’s executive chairman, Adrian Gibson.
MATT Aubry.
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Nassau targets 62.5% increase in cruise calls COMMONWEALTH BREWERY.
Kalik maker sees profitability return By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net COMMONWEALTH Brewery produced a more-than $7.32m bottom line reversal to return to profitability in the 2021 second quarter, with its revival aided by relaxed COVID restrictions and a more open economy. The BISX-listed brewer was also up against weak comparatives as the year-before period featured the harshest pandemic lockdown measures, enabling it to enjoy a 63.7 percent or near $11m year-over-year increase in top-line revenue. And it received a further boost from a $1.2m revaluation
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net NASSAU Cruise Port is projecting a 62.5 percent in monthly cruise ship calls between September and December 2021, it was revealed yesterday, with demand exceeding available berths in the Christmas run-up. Michael Maura, the Prince George Wharf operator’s chief executive, told Tribune Business that it was having to carefully manage demand on the Saturdays leading up to Christmas given that seven ships were seeking to be accommodated at just six berths. “The demand for our berths remains very strong,” he revealed. “We have a number of Saturdays in December where we have seven requests but only six berths. We’re working through this and managing the allocations of berths. “In some cases, it’s as easy as asking if a particular cruise line can call on Nassau on Friday or Sunday, and their private island on Saturday. We don’t want to lose the business, and are very fortunate these cruise lines have private islands so that
A MAN stands on the rubble of his home in the Haitian Quarter, after the passage of the Hurricane Dorian in Abaco, Bahamas, Monday, Sept. 16, 2019. Photo:Ramon Espinosa/AP
Securing Abaco’s lifeline must be ‘absolute priority’ • Chamber chief makes plea to next Gov’t • Island closes down for Dorian memorial • Call for three-year tax breaks ‘window’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
MICHAEL MAURA. they can shuffle between them and Nassau because we’re just in such high demand.” Mr Maura said Nassau Cruise Port’s berth bookings forecast suggested The Bahamas’ cruise tourism sector was set for a steady rebound over the remainder of 2021. While the industry’s June return saw just six cruise lines call on Nassau that month, those numbers rose to 25 in July and 44 for August. For September, 80 cruise ship calls from Florida and US-based vessels are forecast, with that number increasing progressively throughout the remainder of 2021 with 110
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ABACO’S Chamber of Commerce president yesterday pleaded with the next administration to make rebuilding its sea port an “absolute priority” as the island closes down today to remember Dorian’s victims. Ken Hutton, speaking as Abaco marks the second anniversary of the catastrophic Category Five storm’s landfall, told Tribune Business that only government offices and banks will be open on the island today as residents stage a memorial to commemorate those who lose their lives and the trauma all suffered. “Abaco is closed tomorrow [today],” he confirmed to this newspaper. “All the
private sector got together and are closing. The whole community came together and decided that no one is working. The only people that will be open are government buildings and the banks. “We will remember everyone not here with us, and remember what we went through. It’s a memorial. There are two to three services, two to three events, that are planned for it. A couple of community events.” With the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic, and associated lockdowns, restrictions and infection outbreaks, further delaying reconstruction and rebuilding efforts, Mr Hutton urged the Government - and especially the administration that is elected to
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