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Friday, November 14, 2025
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Doctors Hospital ‘earnings muted’ but profits rise 29% By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
• BISX-listed provider: ‘We should be doing more’ DOCTORS Hospital’s finance chief yesterday • Set to accelerate The Kidney asserted that “earnings are still muted” despite first-half Centre integration profits for its 2026 financial year surging by 28.8 percent as it moves to accelerate The • Has ‘clear line of sight’ Kidney Centre’s integration. beyond expansion phase Dennis Deveaux, the BISXlisted healthcare provider’s chief financial officer, told Tribune Business that while it was always anticipated that short-term profitability would be impacted by the investments required for its expansion phase “we know we should be doing more”. Speaking as Doctors Hospital unveiled a return to positive net income following 2025’s full-year $905,603 loss, with profits for the six months to end-July increasing from $2.738m to $3.527m year-over-year, he added that the company has “quite a bit of work to do” to complete
DOCTORS HOSPITAL
outstanding projects and “bring them into play”. Revealing that Doctors Hospital has just completed “a deep dive” into its $25m Grand Bahama hospital, which confirmed the investment is “within an acceptable level of our budget”, Mr Deveaux told this newspaper that the healthcare provider is already focusing on improved dividend yields and driving greater profitability to better reward shareholders for their patience during its expansion phase. Declining to detail profit and dividend targets postgrowth phase, he added that Doctors Hospital has “a clear line of sight” on what is required to achieve this - better collaboration with the Government, driving efficiencies and synergies to translate increased revenues into bottom line growth, lowering purchase costs and
THE Bahamas Trade Commission is aiming to cut out the middleman on 100 percent of this nation’s meat imports in a bid to slash prices for consumers by 20 percent, its chairman revealed yesterday. Senator Barry Griffin, told the Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers’ (BACO) 25th anniversary celebration that in targeting Latin America as both a source and hub for direct trade on construction supplies, it is also seeking to do the same for food.
BARRY GRIFFIN
He added that much of the food consumed in The Bahamas originates from Latin America, but goes through US-based third party intermediaries such as distributors and importers before
it reaches this nation, thus adding to the cost. As a result, the Commission has been working with large producers such as Brazil to import 100 percent of The Bahamas’ meat directly - thus cutting out the middlemen. “We're also looking at Latin America for food,” Mr Griffin said. “So a lot of people don't know that a lot of food in this country already comes from Latin American countries, but it currently comes through American third party intermediaries. “For example, most of the meat we currently consume in The Bahamas right now comes from Brazil, but it's
‘Final push’ to keep politics away from small businesses By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A LONG-STANDING small business advocate is making “the final push” for legislation that would counter “stagnated growth” and “keep politics out” of policies and initiatives designed to foster Bahamian entrepreneurial success. Mark A Turnquest, founder of the 242 Small Business Association and Resource Centre, and a well-known consultant to the sector, told Tribune Business that tomorrow’s symposium at the Cancer Society, located next to ZNS, represents the final attempt in his 16-17
MARK A TURNQUEST
year drive for The Bahamas to have a Small and Medium-Sized Business (SME) Act. Expressing optimism that there is now “the political will” for this to be done,
LEGISLATE - See Page B4
Bahamas ‘competing with getting people off the ship’ By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas is “competing with getting people off the ship”, the deputy prime minister asserted yesterday, adding that there will still be sufficient cruise passenger volumes for all even after Royal Caribbean’s Paradise Island destination opens next month. Chester Cooper, also the minister of tourism, investments and aviation, said the
benefits of the Royal Beach Club must “be a win-win” for Bahamian businesses as well as the cruise line while arguing that this nation must enhance its product to encourage more foot traffic throughout New Providence. Addressing concerns that next month’s opening of the Royal Beach Club will negatively affect foot traffic throughout the Downtown Nassau area, impacting merchants, restaurants, taxi and tour operators, he said
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‘Should be on fire’: Economy’s 4.7% growth challenged • Institute estimates ‘hot’ $333m first-half expansion • But year-over-year comparison no ‘apples for apples’ • Jobless, other indicators going in opposite direction By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
sold through American third parties, and it results in the meat that we consume in this country being about 20 percent more expensive simply because it goes through the United States. “And so we've been working very closely with Brazil, for example, for us to import meat, in particular, directly from Brazil so that we can get it 100 percent from them. But also the idea is that it will be 20 percent cheaper for Bahamians to consume. “And so we're also working closely with countries such as Ecuador and Panama, which is another shipping gateway to
THE Bahamian economy’s projected 4.7 percent expansion during the 2025 first half was yesterday challenged on the basis that businesses and citizens should be feeling a greater impact from such “hot” growth. GOWON BOWE The Bahamas National Statistical Institute (BNSI), in unveiling advance estimates for the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the 2025 second quarter and first half, disclosed that real economic output expanded by $333m during the six months to end-June 2025 in comparison to the same period in 2024. However, the 4.7 percent growth rate raised eyebrows among several observers given that it would represent the fastest pace of economic expansion seen since the 2008-2009 recession, with the exception of post-COVID reflation, and signal that “the economy is essentially on fire”. Several sources, speaking to Tribune Business on condition of anonymity, suggested that such fast-paced growth does not match the daily reality for many Bahamians or other key economic indicators. For while such GDP expansion should drive a reduction in unemployment, the BNSI’s most recent report for the three quarters to end-March 2025 disclosed that the jobless numbers had moved in the opposite direction and were rising. And they argued that the flat to slightly-declining air arrivals numbers experienced for 2025 to-date, along with the fact most major foreign direct investment (FDI) projects are still in the construction pipeline as opposed to
TRADE - See Page B5
GROWTH - See Page B4
INVEST - See Page B5
Bahamas targets 20% cheaper meat prices with direct imports By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net
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