business@tribunemedia.net
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2021
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Portâs profits to decline 7% VAT reforms despite pre-COVID bounce to cap âhugeâ
refund liability
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net NASSAUâS major commercial shipping port is forecasting a 7 percent year-over-year profit decline for 2022 despite predicting container volumes will return to pre-COVID levels in the first quarter. Arawak Port Development Company (APD), the BISX-listed Nassau Container Port operator, made the relatively conservative forecast in its just-released annual report even though net income for the first quarter of its current financial year was 56 percent or almost $750,000 ahead of internal forecasts. âFor the 2022 fiscal year, we are budgeting gross revenue of $28.618m (2021: $28.775m) or 1 percent less than the prior yearâs actual gross revenue,â APD told its shareholders. âNet income is projected to be approximately $6.208m or approximately $464,008 less than the 2021 actual net income of $6.672m. âThe decline in revenues, net income and volumes are solely attributable to the negative impact of COVID-19 on our local economy, especially our tourism sector. Our 2022 fiscal year budget assumes that
⢠Nassau import volumes back to pre-pandemic in Q1 2022 ⢠But BISX-listed gateway âremains extremely conservativeâ ⢠Even though net income 56% above target year-to-date
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Nassau Container Port
Change law so staff pay for COVID tests By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A TOP hotelier yesterday issued âa clarion callâ for The Bahamas to eliminate legal stipulations that mandate employers must pay for their workersâ COVID19 testing. Robert Sands, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Associationâs (BHTA) president, used the Accountants Week seminars to challenge both the Government and trade unions to at least work with the private sector on reforming the Health and Safety at Work Actâs section nine.
Robert Sands Speaking during a panel discussion that featured Robert Farquharson, the Governmentâs director of labour, and Obie Ferguson,
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Target âidealâ 50% debt-to-GDP ratio By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE BAHAMAS must target an âidealâ debt-toGDP ratio of less than 50 percent to put its fiscal house in order, an exChamber of Commerce chief executive argued yesterday. Edison Sumner, principal of Sumner Strategic
Partners, told Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) members that the countryâs debt-to-GDP ratio will be âupside downâ if the Government incurs just a few hundred million dollars more in liabilities. Speaking during the Accountants Week seminar series, he implied that the Governmentâs debt will
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⢠Financial services cost cut back-dated to 2019 By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE proposed VAT reforms are designed to cap âhugeâ multi-million dollar refund liabilities owed by the Government to two major transhipment providers, it was revealed yesterday. Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Financeâs financial secretary, told Tribune Business that eliminating the VAT âzero ratingâ treatment for these entities would halt âdistortionâ of the tax system and prevent âfuture problemsâ for a cash-strapped Public Treasury by stopping any further growth of these refund liabilities. He declined to name the two companies involved, and was unable to specify
Simon Wilson how much they are owed in VAT refunds other than to say the sum is âsignificantâ. However, several sources suggested the companies were likely to be some of Grand Bahamaâs major industrial conglomerates, with Buckeye Bahamas, owner of the former BORCO oil storage terminal, thought to be one. Other contenders cited by sources familiar with the
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