business@tribunemedia.net
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017
$4.27 Capital-raising comes Aliv for new operator By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Bahamas’ new mobile operator yesterday confirmed to Tribune Business it was taking “market soundings” on a potential $30 million bond issue that could be placed by March. However, Damian Blackburn, Aliv’s top executive, said nothing had been finalised in relation to the proposed placement, and the company was exploring “different options” to meet its capital-raising needs. He added that the mobile operator might seek bank financing to raise the necessary monies, which will be used to meet operating expenses and fund the next phase of its Bahamas-wide infrastructure and network roll-out. Capital markets sources confirmed to Tribune Business last week that they had been approached on Aliv’s behalf by RoyalFidelity See pg b4
BTC rival’s ‘market soundings’ on $30m bonds But no decision yet, as ‘options’ being explored Private placement could come as early as March
The Bahamas must target wealth owners and the entities that directly service them to grow its financial services industry, with a bank-focused strategy “not the way to go” The principals of Holdun Family Office, which can trace its roots back five generations to Canadian industrialist and financier, Sir Herbert Holt, told Tribune Business it was “niche players” such as themselves that would drive financial services growth. Stuart Dunn, Holdun’s chairman, and Brandon Dunn, chief executive of the Albany-headquartered business, explained that it was family offices such as theirs which drove the de-
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Bahamas tops Caribbean on crime’s economic cost By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Bahamas leads the entire Caribbean on economic losses stemming from crime, losing $434 million or almost 5 per cent of its annual gross domestic product (GDP) to the scourge. The extent of crime’s impact on Bahamian economic output and wider society is laid bare in an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report, which shows that out of 17 Latin American and Caribbean countries, only Honduras and El Salvador incur greater annual costs as a proportion of GDP. The study, ‘The costs of crime and violence: New
Nation losing almost 5% of GDP or $434m annually Scourge costing Bahamians $1,177 per person Homicides, jailings cost nation almost $100m insights in Latin America and the Caribbean’, reveals that the Bahamas is one of only two countries in the region where crime costs its citizens and residents more than $1,000 per person annually. Once currency differ-
ences are accounted for, crime was shown as costing Bahamas residents $1,177 per capita annually, second only to Trinidad & Tobago’s $1,189 per person. The IDB study described crime’s costs as “particularly high” in the Bahamas, while placing Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago in the same category, with more than 75 per cent of Bahamian companies spending money on security personnel, technology and equipment. Again, the Bahamas is second only to Trinidad in the proportion of companies forced into expenditure on security measures, which has become an ‘everyday feature of life’ for too many businesses. The private security in-
dustry has been one of the few growth areas in the Bahamian economy since the 2008-2009 recession, reflecting just how strong a grip crime - and the ‘fear of crime’ - maintain on the private sector and wider society. “In Honduras, private spending is almost 2 per cent of GDP – more than twice the regional average – and the higher bound is above 3 per cent,” the IDB said of spending on security measures. “El Salvador follows with costs incurred by the private sector hovering between 1.6 and 2.7 per cent of GDP. The Bahamas and Brazil also show high private costs, with estimates varying between 1 and 1.9 See pg b4
Sir Franklyn says VAT speech just ‘entertainment’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Damian Blackburn
Bank growth focus ‘not the way to go’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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Family office principals urge: ‘Target niche players’
Franklyn WilsoN
Sir Franklyn Wilson has urged Bahamians not to take Michael Halkitis’s infamous ‘Where the VAT money gone’ speech too seriously because political conventions are for “entertainment”, rather than a serious discussion of national affairs. The Arawak Homes
chairman, coming to the minister of state for finance’s defence, said it “doesn’t take a rocket scientist” to know what has happened to the $1 billionplus VAT revenues collected since January 1, 2015. Agreeing with Mr Halkitis’s explanation that they had gone into the ‘pot’ known as the Consolidated Fund, and been co-mingled with the Government’s See pg b7
‘No serious information’ from party conventions Blames hurricanes for deficits, missed Budget goals Says politicians ‘don’t budget conservatively’
Holdun: ‘Market turmoil’ created our opportunity BFSB chief: Family offices ‘way of the future’ mand for banking-related services, not the other way round. Brandon Dunn, speaking during an exclusive interview with Tribune Business, acknowledged the ongoing uncertainty resulting from See pg b5
Sarkis ally: Govt ‘twofaced’ over Baha Mar role By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A key Sarkis Izmirlian ally says The Pointe’s Heads of Agreement shows the Christie administration was “hopelessly conflicted” in how it handled the Baha Mar dispute. Dionisio D’Aguilar, the FNM MP for Montagu, told Tribune Business he was “absolutely shocked” that the Government had signed an agreement with China Construction America (CCA), permitting it to move men and equipment from the Baha Mar site to its downtown Nassau development, at the height of its dispute with Mr Izmirlian. Mr D’Aguilar accused the Government of being “two faced”, saying that
Dioniso: Pointe deal shows ‘hopelessly conflicted’ Says Baha Mar helped finance CCA’s other project AG: Hundreds of jobs already created while it was presenting itself as an ‘impartial mediator’ in seeking to broker a resolution to Mr Izmirlian’s dispute with CCA, it was at the same time negotiating with the latter on another investment deal. “I was absolutely shocked to see the collusion that was See pg b6
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