07082020 BUSINESS

business@tribunemedia.net

WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2020

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GOWON BOWE

Banker: Put homes above life’s luxuries

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIANS must stop prioritising luxury goods, a top banker urged yesterday, with home ownership set to take a “tremendous blow” in the next year due to COVID-19.

Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief financial officer, told a webinar organised by the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society of The Bahamas: “Home ownership is going to take a tremendous blow, certainly over the next six to 12 months, and potentially longer for two years.

“We have had a significant inventory of distressed properties. I have put forward to the governments - the previous government and current government - that they need to look at an opportunity to create REITs (real estate investment trusts).

“They need to also look at opportunities to say how do we get some of the distressed properties moved by virtue of saying, as opposed to continuing to grant crown land to individuals that may never be able to afford the financing to build on it, can you use the same level of funding to purchase distressed properties at cents on the dollar?,” he added.

“Then turn around and invest in the construction industry by renovating those properties and making them more readily available through the Mortgage Corporation, which has a programme.”

Mr Bowe said too many Bahamians were taking themselves out of being able to afford a home by prioritising high-end luxury goods, such as cars and jewellery, and overburdening themselves with consumer loans taken out to finance these purchases.

“So there is a sweet spot in terms of the dollar value of the homes,” he explained. “I think about how do we make Bahamians owners in the industry, and I think it is about putting the onus and responsibility on individuals.”

“The first thing we wanted, our parents, they saved towards a home. Now the first thing is we want a new car, we want to have the jewellery, and we want to have the lifestyle image without the foundation of a home.

“The only way that changes is by appreciating that it wasn’t by chance our forefathers had homes. It was for the fact they sacrificed, and they saw the need to plant roots and create a foundation and a home for the family to have in perpetuity, and we have to try and remember some of those old school values.”

Warning borrowers against having no intention of repaying the loan, Mr Bowe said: “Put it this way. A bank is only a broker between shareholders, depositors and borrowers.

The bank’s management are fiduciary agents that say I take money from the shareholders and the depositors, and lend to borrowers.

“If anyone in that circle doesn’t honour their commitment then it falls apart, so it cannot be seen as banks being donors of money. They are lending, and the persons who take on loans have to have the responsible attitude of repaying it, because they are taking money out of someone they know who would suffer deposit loss and shareholder loss.”

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Superplex: ‘We’ll be back despite north of $6m loss’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

T

HE Fusion Superplex yesterday revealed it has “lost north of $6m” in revenues due to its COVID-19 enforced closure, but pledged: “We’ll definitely be back.”

Carlos Foulkes, the cinema and entertainment complex’s chief executive, told Tribune Business the pandemic’s impact has been “devastating” for its financial health with the government yet to give permission for it and similar businesses to re-open.

While Fusion Superplex had hoped to resume operations this month, Mr Foulkes said he was now “hearing sip sip” that the competent authority - meaning the Prime Minister’s Office - may not give the go-ahead before August, further exacerbating the loss of

top-line income.

He explained that losing much of the summer season would also be “significant” for a movie-dependent business such as his because this is when the Hollywood Film Studios typically unleash their new releases.

However, the Fusion chief said the complex’s financiers had “given us a

break” by agreeing to wait until operations resumed before reviewing the terms/ conditions of their lending facility and taking any further action.

Disclosing that Fusion Superplex’s 350 furloughed staff will be recalled in phases based on consumer demand, Mr Foulkes said the entertainment group was

A PROMINENT Bahamian realtor yesterday said he is “getting bombed” by a surge in buyer interest and visits that has taken him by surprise since the borders opened.

Peter Dupuch, founder and president of ERA Dupuch Real Estate, told Tribune Business that his firm’s website was “generating hundreds of leads a day” after the government relaxed restrictions on commercial flights into the country.

Disclosing that he had spent last week in Eleuthera showing “big acreage” to potential investors, he added that he had spent pre-Independence taking a different group of foreign buyers around high-end properties in Nassau and Paradise Island.

With several deals “looking like they’re going to go

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• ‘Surprised’ by demand after borders open • Website giving ‘hundreds of leads’ per day • Urges govt to stimulate market demand under contract”, Mr Dupuch urged the government to do everything possible “to encourage real estate sales” given that they represent one of the few potentially significant sources of foreign exchange earnings available to The Bahamas near-term while tourism tries to recover.

In particular, Mr Dupuch said the present VAT transaction tax structure creates an inflationary impact on real estate prices that eliminates the “fixer upper” market while also penalising sellers when they have to sell for less than they acquired a property for.

Still, he reported strong buyer interest in both New Providence and the major Family Island markets, with

international clients also on the hunt for deals in stormravaged Abaco and Grand Bahama.

“We’ve had a lot of interest since the borders opened. It’s been significant.

I’ve just been out all day yesterday and today with foreign clients,” Mr Dupuch told Tribune Business.

“We’ve had a number of transactions that have just come up since July 1.

We don’t have them under contract yet, but they look like they’re going under contract. We’re busy surprisingly, but I’m not complaining.

“There’s a lot of pent-up demand. People have been waiting, and I think they realise this is the time to buy.

My father always said that

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

when everybody does a), you go to b). Don’t go with the masses,” he continued.

“I feel because it’s built up, built up over the past three months that we’ve been locked down, I feel like we’re getting bombed. Our website is generating hundreds of leads a day, mainly international but also local.

“I was in Eleuthera last week showing big acreage. People are looking in Abaco, looking in Bimini, looking in Nassau, looking in Eleuthera. Bimini has been quite popular lately, maybe because people feel they can pop over from Florida.”

Mr Dupuch added that investors were also focusing

currently assessing how to adjust its business model to the post-COVID-19 realities.

With “hard economic times” faced by all Bahamians and residents, he said Fusion Superplex was seeking to “strike a balance” between business sustainability and tailoring products to meet reduced consumer disposable income.

Mr Foulkes confirmed price discounts are being eyed as a way to attract movie goers to watch “old movies and throwbacks” in the absence of new releases, while the complex’s restaurant offerings are mulling a shift from higher-end dining to sports bar-type fare given the reduction in consumer spending power.

Realtor ‘bombed’ by buyer interest surge

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Bahamas needs tax structure to match tourism THE Bahamas needs a tax structure that will attract the equivalent of 7m tourists to its financial services industry, a local banker argued yesterday.

Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief financial officer, told a webinar organised by the Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) Society of The Bahamas that it was impossible for this nation to abandon tourism because the sheer volume of visitors it attracts produces the “very large marketplace” needed to support the rest of the economy.

“When we start thinking about what we want in terms of diversifying the economy and moving away from tourism, we need to look at how we complement tourism, because that is an opportunity for access to a very large marketplace,” he explained.

“But secondly, we need to be thinking about industries that can sell to that same number of individuals in order to generate foreign currency earnings here.

Financial services did provide that, and what we didn’t do previously - even though it was fortuitous for us and it created a middle class, and it created an opportunity for individuals to make some money - we never appreciated that actually financial services complemented a very large number of large things we were working in.

“So second home ownership, only now we see that financial services in terms of permanent residency and passports. It has long been an attractor of persons coming into the country, investing in home ownership, investing into the country and actually contributing to the local economies.”

Mr Bowe continued: “Secondly, we didn’t see it as relationship building, where we had some of the economic giants from Europe that used to reside in The Bahamas as heads of these organisations, and how do we leverage the relationships that we had.

“The opportunities for financial services, I think,

• COVID ‘devastating’ for movie complex • ‘Sip sip’ that no re-opening during July • Top executive: Lender ‘gave us a break’

FUSION SUPERPLEX

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Dorian forces insurer into first-ever reserve release

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A BAHAMIAN insurer yesterday revealed it made the first-ever “catastrophe reserves” release in its 25-year history due to Hurricane Dorian’s $200m-plus claims.

Timothy Ingraham, Summit Insurance’s president, told Tribune Business that the property and casualty underwriter’s directors approved releasing the $600,000 after the category five storm produced annual claims “close to four times’” higher than its previous record.

“We had a catastrophe reserve fund which was designed specifically for events similar to what we experienced last year with Dorian,” he confirmed.

“The Board made the decision to release a portion of the reserve, and that was the first time we did that in the company’s 25-year history.

“The next biggest claim to Dorian was $60m in losses from Hurricane Frances in 2004, and then we had Hurricane Jeanne in 2004, which was another $14m. The Bahamas has been impacted

• Summit unlocked $600k from ‘catastrophe fund’ • Over $200m claims ‘four times’ previous record • Full COVID impact not seen until fourth quarter by 13 named storms in the last 20 years, so local insurance companies have certainly been tested quite frequently by storms.”

Mr Ingraham said Summit, the carrier through which Insurance Management places much of its property and casualty business, had incurred claims “close to four times as much” as what it received in 2004.

He confirmed that Dorian had produced more than $200m in gross claims, although declined to reveal the precise figure, most of which will have been paid out by Summit’s international reinsurance partners.

The catastrophe reserve release was disclosed in Summit’s recently-unveiled 2019 financial statements, which said: “During the year, $600,000 of the general reserve was released to the consolidated statement of income due to the impact of Hurricane Dorian to

mitigate the financial impact of catastrophe losses.”

The category five storm’s catastrophic impact on Abaco and Grand Bahama resulted in a negative $2.66m bottom line swing year-over-year, which catapulted Summit Insurance from a $1.382m profit in 2018 to a $1.279m loss for the 12 months to endDecember 2019.

The main driver behind the loss was a 75.9 percent rise in net claims incurred, which rose from $2.993m in 2018 to $5.265m last year. This produced a $336,201 underwriting loss, compared to a $2.987m gain the year before, and could not be offset by a near-doubling of Summit’s “other income” to $1.667m.

Summit’s financials also contained the now-standard warning that the COVID19 pandemic, and resulting health and economic crises, have “the potential to adversely affect our business” although it was

impossible to precisely forecast what they will be.

“I think it will be a while before we see the full impact of it,” Mr Ingraham told Tribune Business. “Obviously the immediate impact was that a lot of people couldn’t get out to renew their insurance, so we saw a decline in insurance being renewed.

“There are a lot of people who have been kept on an extended furlough or lost their jobs, sadly, so what impact that will has will be seen in the coming months.

I haven’t seen June’s numbers, and June might very well be showing that. I think it’s going to be somewhere around the fourth quarter before we know exactly what it is.”

Mr Ingraham said there were numerous factors that may impact premium income and renewal decisions/timing. He cited the example of a tour operator reliant on the cruise ship industry, which may

not need liability coverage and auto insurance for six months until that sector returns.

Similarly, a hotel’s liability coverage may be based on its income and number of guests, and its continued closure or reduced occupancies would automatically result in the amount of insurance - and associated premium payment - being reduced.

The Bahamian insurance industry has already been urging the government to adjust its COVID-19 premium deferral order, and set a date for when the emergency powers - now due to expire at the end of July will end on the basis that it is “too restrictive to trade”.

Besides the uncertainty created by not knowing when these powers will end, the extra 60 days granted to clients to either pay or agree a plan to take care of the arrears now runs through the end of September and hurricane season peak.

Other insurers have warned this will create cash flow issues for property and casualty insurers, and potentially impact the payment commitments made

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PAGE 2, Wednesday, July 8, 2020

In the first of a four-part series, Hubert Edwards probes analyses the goal of building a stronger economy and what The Bahamas must do to achieve it.

THE TRIBUNE

LAYING OUT THE ROADMAP FOR ECONOMIC RESILIENCE

BY HUBERT EDWARDS

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HE newspaper headlines reporting on a presentation given by the deputy prime minister (DPM) were very similar. One read: Government wants Economic Recovery Committee to assist in finding solutions to supplement economic growth, while the other simply stated: Government pins hopes on recovery committee. This signals the level of seriousness with which the work of the Economic Recovery Committee (ERC) is viewed by the government. K Peter Turnquest was quoted as saying: “We anticipate this committee will bring back some recommendations that we will be able to execute in the medium to shortterm...but, in the longer term, to help us visualise and to conceptualise what the restructuring of this economy could look like if tourism takes longer than we anticipate to rebound.”

There are important conclusions to be drawn from these pronouncements.

They suggest that the COVID-19 dynamics have shifted, especially because of recent developments in the US, and acknowledge that the recent 2020-2021 budget may not have gone far enough in laying the platform for a sustainable future.

Around mid-March 2020, it started to become clear that The Bahamas and rest of the Western Hemisphere would be facing significant economic problems as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

China, the pandemic’s starting point, was only just coming to grips with the

health crisis, while the US was showing all the early signs of inadequate crisis preparation and management. The general refrain was that The Bahamas would lose ten percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), with the worst of the pandemic over

by June. I asked back then whether the early models would hold, and what the implications were if they did not. I pointed out that the June horizon was the bestcase scenario, and GDP could shrink by closer to 30 percent, based on InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) modelling, if the Bahamian and world economies did not recover until December 2020. How much more will be lost?

What would a back-testing of those models show now, given their initial highly tourist-centric assumptions? Is there sufficient economic resilience that will enable The Bahamas to return to some level of normality?

With major hotel properties adjusting their reopening times, and some projecting they will only return to the market in October or December this year, a longer recovery

scenario is likely to be the case. The Bahamas also needs China and the rest of the world, especially the US, to succeed in combating the pandemic. My sentiment was that their wins will be our wins, and their losses will be our losses. Today we are looking at our worst fears potentially being realised.

The US, which provides 82 percent of our tourists, is showing ever-deepening signs of a COVID-19 crisis that is out of control. The desire to open up its economy early; the philosophical stance of its national leadership; and the subversion of medical and scientific contributors looms large, in stark contrast to what we see in the Caribbean. I made the point that while there is an economic crisis to be managed, any success relies on treating this with the respect the health crisis demands. The US has become a case study of what could happen when policymakers fail to take decisive and common sense actions.

While we are not seeing this in the Caribbean, there is significant pressure to re-open the economy. The question is: Can we survive? How resilient are these islands in dealing with a second surge or real surge due to imported cases?

What happens when health infrastructure meets economic challenges?

The picture is constantly becoming clearer as time passes. For those who follow and study the performance of economies across the Caribbean, recent developments were always inevitable.

Downgrades by rating agencies, inevitable. Deep fiscal deficits,

inevitable. Rapid increase in unemployment, inevitable.

Huge economic counter cyclical expenditure, inevitable. Amid the onslaught of the COVID19 pandemic, there is a deep and deepening financial crisis. In my opinion, this is deeper and more concerning than public pronouncements would suggest. The question which ought to occupy everyone’s mind now is: How will we recover? What will governments of these countries do, and is the recovery cost affordable? The vulnerabilities from this event are obvious and well-appreciated, or at least should be by now. Defining the problem, though, remains critical to the recovery effort. The truth is that Caribbean economies are under the microscope.

While this crisis has undoubtedly damaged them significantly, an objective conclusion must be that resilience was always questionable. In the wings lies the ever-present hurricane threat. How resilient are our economies to these shocks? What other shocks will emerge as part of the global recovery process?

What strategic treatments are needed to enhance that economic resilience? Are the projected fiscal deficits across the region reasonable? Are we going to limp forward hoping that what we had before will return, and we can once again enjoy some level of “normalcy”? Alternatively, will we take the path that will result in bold, exciting, innovative initiatives to strengthen our economies?

A path that terminates in re-imagined, re-engineered economic arrangements and a new consciousness that radically eschews the paradigms of the past?

I believe in the Caribbean’s capacity to make the shift. The talent exists within, and outside in the diaspora. However, if leadership fails to drive an appropriate vision of a new national economy, and a new region with serious interaction geared at advancing the cause of its people, we will

suffer in the long-term.

Where there is failure to let go of arrangements that result in low growth economic output, the result of any plans, projects or programmes will be the same. The Bahamas, Jamaica and the region suffer from being caught in a serious debt trap. The Caribbean also suffers from low productivity, plus significant vulnerabilities and external shocks that are not faced by others. The only solution lies in finding a sustainable path for consistent economic growth.

Strategies that are inconsistent with that idea will ultimately fail despite any positive impact they may have.

Faced with the overwhelming burden and urgency of ushering in a new day, every policymaker, citizen and resident of these countries must know and accept that today is the time to write a new normal of high productivity, economic vibrancy and growth by leveraging all options available. Caribbean countries will either rise by embracing new thinking (not limited to economics) or remain strangled by existing paradigms. Economic resilience is about how an economy stands or recovers from the effects of external shocks. Finding the correct and balanced formula to secure economic resilience is not easy, but that is where the focus must be. In this process, appreciate that resilience assumes a return to a normative state, and contemplate whether that state is optimal for us. Going back to a state which itself needed major improvements will not be sufficient to create sustainable resilience. For any regional economy, this will require effective debt management and consolidation but, more importantly, it demands a robust plan for economic growth. The Bahamas has underlined its response to the crisis with a budget styled Resilient Bahamas: A plan for restoration. We will explore the issue of resilience to see how well-positioned the country is to give true life

to that slogan, and look at what the issues impacting this are.

For The Bahamas, which has embarked on a number of studies and strategic plans for the economy, this is a pivotal moment. It may be a tipping point. I think it is important that a true nationally-endorsed plan emerges. I am of the view that the level and depth of this crisis demands an across-the-board effort where all major stakeholders agree on what needs to be done. This is especially true in the case of major political parties. Time is at a premium, and therefore certainty of direction is critical. Early commitment to a consensus position has true economic implications.

A commitment to executing the agreed plan has true economic value, or at least carries serious influence. The key question is: Will we see, once and for all, an all-party position that drives the national effort regardless of who is in government? The issues should be well understood.

The most important is that collaborative leadership will be a major factor in whether The Bahamas wins through in the end.

Defining Resilience Mr Turnquest, the deputy prime minster, signalled a potentially critical change. He said: “We may be shifting from the traditional big volume, big box tourism. We are seeing a move to a more specialty product; a more indigenous product which we anticipate will have even more benefits to Bahamians.” This is a very powerful statement of potential adaptation and transformation. Does this constitute a form of diversification? Would this secure greater economic value, and how more resilient will The Bahamas be with such a shift. What exactly does resilience look like?

We can look at resilience in a number of ways.

In a 2014 paper, Building Economic Resilience, by the Institute for Public Policy Research North, a dedicated think-tank

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THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, July 8, 2020, PAGE 3

Minister slams ‘personal interest’ of BPL’s critics

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net A CABINET minister yesterday accused critics of Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) fuel hedging strategy of pursuing a hidden agenda.

Desmond Bannister, minister of works, in particular singled out Debbie Deal, head of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) energy and environment division, as one critic who previously held a “personal interest” in seeking to win generation contracts with BPL. Ms Deal, though, denied that she ever had any “personal interest” or direct involvement with any of the bids that sought to supply the state-owned utility via an independent power purchase (IPP) agreement.

She confirmed, though, that she had met with New Fortress Energy, which was Shell North America’s main rival in the bidding process to build, own and operate the new power plant and associated liquefied

‘Abandoning the National Plan will be our undoing’

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE government was yesterday urged to “dust off” the National Development Plan (NDP) instead of relying solely on the Economic Recovery Committee (ERC) for post-COVID-19 salvation.

Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief financial officer, said: “A goal without a plan is just a wish, and for The Bahamas we have really been relying on the good fortune that we have had by the

natural gas (LNG) infrastructure at Clifton Pier. Ms Deal also said he met with three groups that sought to acquire BPL. She responded after Mr Bannister told reporters outside the Cabinet Office that BPL consumers will see “a marked difference” in electricity costs this summer due to the utility’s hedging strategy, which will lock-in fuel costs at ten cents per kilowatt hour (KWh) compared to the 19 cents per KWh paid this time in 2019.

Pointing to what he said would be significant savings for homeowners and businesses as a result, Mr Bannister hit back at those criticising and challenging BPL’s fuel hedging strategy.

“I want you to ask all of these other people coming forward: What was their personal interest in BPL, and what was their interest in seeking the generation

contracts at BPL? Ask them that and tell them to be straightforward, and tell you what was their interest,” he said in response to Tribune Business inquiries.

But Ms Deal, when confronted by this newspaper on the minister’s “personal interest” charge, replied: “No. God no. Never have. I have met with three different entities that actually put in offers to purchase BPL, and I met with one entity only that put in a bid for the natural gas and it was the same one I was introduced to when I went to Jamaica that was [New] Fortress.

“In 2015, the US Embassy sent me to the Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum.

They paid for my trip to go. They were interested in what they could possibly do in this country. The very first meeting I went to that day was on natural gas and solar.

The first person to speak was a fellow from Fortress, and the second person was from GE (General Electric).

GE and Fortress had actually joined forces and did a project in Jamaica, where they did solar and they did natural gas.”

New Fortress had been selected as the “preferred” bidder to transform New Providence’s energy sector via a secretive Request for Proposal (RFP) process that was exposed by Tribune Business just days before the May 2017 general election.

Both BPL and PowerSecure, its then-manager, had been “kept in the dark” on the discussions despite the direct impact upon themselves as potential customers of the electricity that would be generated by New Fortress.

Tribune Business sources at the time described the Christie administration’s energy RFP, which was run out of the Prime Minister’s Office, as “very weird” and lacking in transparency, with different bid terms and criteria for different groups.

The multi-billion dollar AES Corporation described the process as “non-transparent” and “not what we are used to” in other central American and Caribbean markets where it has competed on LNG supply and power generation deals.

The Minnis administration ultimately abandoned

the process embarked upon by its predecessor, and the selection of New Fortress, and instead initiated a new RFP tender that was won

by Shell North America.

That process, too, was not without controversy, and the final deal between Shell, BPL and the government has yet to conclude.

Ms Deal, meanwhile, said, “My personal interest in BPL is that for the last 35 years that I can remember, we have had issues with power generation in this country - not just with Nassau but on the Family Islands as well. Long Island didn’t even get energy from the government until the mid to late 1980s.

“We would like to be a first world country. We would like to have people come from all over the world and spend lots of money in our country, and enjoy our country because the things we have nobody else has. That’s why people want to come to this country.

“Yet we have to be concerned with the fact that we are going to have power outages on a regular basis,

that Abaco and Marsh Harbour nine months later still don’t have power, and many of the cays still do not have power,” she continued.

“I would love to support BPL. I would love to be the one on the bandwagon saying this is awesome, but what I have found is that over the last 35 years it didn’t matter who sat on the board.

“It didn’t matter who the chief executive of the company was, it didn’t matter which political party was in power. The same problems persisted. The only thing that is common, or the only thing that is the constant in all of that, is Cabinet.

That is my concern with my energy company; it is run

by Cabinet.”

Pointing out that BPL, as a limited company, should not have to go to Cabinet for the authority to enter into a fuel hedging arrangement, Ms Deal said: “It is a limited company. It just happens to be financed under the government, which is Cabinet.

These are my concerns.”

structure and the natural assets we have had in our lifetime. We have not set out that plan that is looking forward 25-30 years.”

Speaking at a webinar staged by the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society of The Bahamas, Mr Bowe said: “We started that as a nation in the form of the NDP several years ago, and our shortsightedness in terms of not seeing that through as a nation is going to be our own undoing.

“We have to make sure that our policymakers and leaders on all sides of the aisle understand it is important that we don’t look through election cycles, but more of how are we going to make the nation better over the long haul.”

Responding to questions that the Economic

Recovery Committee will produce nothing new, Mr Bowe said: “I think this goes to something I stated in that, firstly, dust off the work that was done in the NDP, which had a lot of fact-based finding information.

“Meaning that it told us that our education system started to decline after grade three. It told us what we had in terms of our health system, and the need to improve it. It told us the declines we were having in foreign direct investment (FDI), meaning that less than 20 percent of all FDI stayed within the country in that sense.”

Mr Bowe continued: “So, if we say to dust that off, the second one is start with the blank sheet of paper.

Don’t come to the discussion with what is the legacy.

Come to the discussion

with an open mind in that each of us either have been school-trained or worked in environments that have allowed us on to the world stage.

“There is a tremendous amount of wealth of knowledge in The Bahamas that has had international experience, and we have each been around what is necessary and needed.

“It needs to be that brainstorming that throws the ideas of saying forget what we know, but instead what is it people want, and

what are we going to do in order to achieve that. Then make the infrastructure and foundation accommodate that as opposed to trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.”

The Fidelity executive added: “We keep trying to make the rest of the world’s financial services needs fit into the model we have, as opposed to saying: ‘Well, the financial services needs of the rest of the world, we need to fit our financial services industry in order to accommodate that’.

“I think everyone wants to have the silver bullet, and I would say that we can’t get that today. I would say to you that we need to stop thinking about our political divide and economic divide that separates us, and band together as a people and bring all of our best minds together, so that when we formulate something it is a national effort, and when we go on the outside we remember that they see us as Bahamian and not one side versus the other.”

Chamber executive denies Bannister allegations

PAGE 4, Wednesday, July 8, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Superplex: ‘We’ll be back despite north of $6m loss’ FROM PAGE ONE “We have lost north of $6m in the last three months alone,” he told Tribune Business of the pandemic’s financial impact. “We had anticipated a wonderful summer with a slate of new movie releases, but because of Hollywood cancellations we no longer have access to those movies and don’t know when they will be released.

“The impact has been significant. Summer is big for the movie business. It’s been devastating. We are prepared to open as soon as we have the OK to do so. That means it will take longer to recover as a company, but that applies to the nation.

“Everybody is going to have a longer time getting back to where they were at the same time last year.

We are ready to return. We wish to advise the public that we will definitely be back.”

Some Fusion employees had themselves previously voiced doubts as to whether the cinema and entertainment

complex, overlooking the JFK Drive and Gladstone Road roundabout, would re-open given the extent of the revenue and bottomline losses produced by the company’s continuing COVID-19 lockdown.

Other observers have speculated privately to this newspaper that the business was a potential candidate to be placed into receivership upon coming out of the pandemic given the issues that emerged following the nationwide mid-March lockdown imposed by the government.

This newspaper reported that Fusion Superplex was unable to meet the last $500,000 monthly staff payroll before the lockdown, which Mr Foulkes blamed on the inability/refusal of the company’s debtors to pay the $1.2m in accounts receivables that they owed.

And it then emerged that the entertainment complex had not been paying National Insurance Board (NIB) contributions on behalf of staff, which had left furloughed workers unable to receive unemployment benefits when

they applied. Mr Foulkes conceded then that the company was on a payment plan with NIB. However, he told Tribune Business yesterday that Fusion Superplex’s lenders had agreed to provide the necessary financial breathing space until it resumed operations and business volumes had begun to recover.

“The significant loss of revenue means we have to be cautious on returning to the market,” Mr Foulkes said, “and we had to do negotiations with the lenders to say: ‘Give us a break, conditions are not favourable locally and globally’.

“We had positive news.

They actually said to us: ‘Do whatever you have to do to get back into business, and we will review the lending conditions later’.”

Mr Foulkes added that Fusion Superplex, whose construction budget grew from an initial $42m to $50m, had been financed by a combination of Bahamas-based equity investors and overseas debt funding. He declined to identify them, while noting that the

project had received no support from local banks or other lenders.

To “alleviate the concerns” of the government and its healthcare advisers, Mr Foulkes said the entertainment complex is developing “a plan” showing how it will implement the required COVID-19 protocols with reduced customer numbers permitted inside its movie theatres and other facilities.

Fusion Superplex, together with the likes of Mario’s Bowling and Entertainment Centre, Galleria Cinemas and nightclubs, are among the final categories of businesses yet to re-open following the COVID-19 lockdown due to government fears that their confined spaces - together with the large crowds they attract - will lead to the virus re-emerging and spreading.

“We are trying to get an indication right now,” Mr Foulkes replied, when asked whether the government has provided the sector with a re-opening date. “We were supposed to re-open in phase four, but

this was delayed to phase five, and we’ve not gotten an official date. I don’t have a concrete answer.

“I am hearing ‘sip sip’ that it won’t be in the month of July, and we wanted to come back to the market this month.....

Maybe we can get it done at the end of the month, if the Competent Authority allows, otherwise it may be be in August.”

Mr Foulkes confirmed that the company will recall its 350 furloughed employees in stages as COVID-19 restrictions eased and consumer demand increased.

However, reduced numbers in the movie theatre, restaurants and arcade meant that it will “not need that many employees in the beginning”.

The Fusion Superplex chief added that the complex was already exploring what it can do to attract consumers in the “new normal” created

by COVID-19 while still remaining a viable business enterprise.

“We may have to make some changes to the model,” he told Tribune

Business. “We’re looking to provide pricing discounts to the market, and do some old movies and throwbacks, where people can come in on reduced prices. These are going to be hard economic times for people and we’re sensitive to that.

“We have to be balanced so that as a company we can operate a sustainable business but also provide assistance to the public.

We are looking to put some things in place that we can sustain, improving the product and service provided, and making it more accessible to more people.”

“If we make changes to the price structure, we will make sure they stay in place for a year, year-and-a-half, and the only thing that will make them change is if something happens beyond our control in the supply chain.”

Pointing out that meat costs were increasing in Nassau, Mr Foulkes said Fusion Superplex’s restaurant teams were assessing whether to shift the menu from a higher-end dining market that has “dwindled” to a sports bar-type offering.

Dorian forces insurer into first-ever reserve release FROM PAGE ONE to reinsurers who ultimately underwrite the multi-billion risks present in The Bahamas.

The Emergency Powers (COVID-19) (Special Provisions) (Amendment) Order 2020, dated April 16, expanded the government’s insurance consumer protection initiative to include

property and casualty insurers.

The order stipulates that for the entire COVID-19 national emergency period dating back to March 17, plus a 60-day period from when it ends, persons who have been terminated from their jobs or are unable to make due premium payments online can defer these outlays.

This applies to “general” (property and casualty) insurers as well as their life and health counterparts. Once the lockdown ends, clients must either pay the full amount of premium due or agree a payment plan with their underwriters during that 60-day period.

Persons still working or with the means to pay, and who can do so remotely,

are not covered and must continue to pay. The order also seeks to deal with what should happen if a claim is made during this period by persons who have not paid their due premium.

It requires all insurers to honour the claim but deduct “the outstanding premiums and deductible” from what is paid out.

Mr Ingraham yesterday said the emergency orders could have created an issue where clients enjoyed “free” insurance coverage from one underwriter for several months only to switch to a rival, but this had been addressed by requiring them to request the temporary premium waiver from their agent or broker.

YOUR

CHOICE FOR THE FAMILY WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/JOYFM1019

THE TRIBUNE

LAYING OUT THE ROAD MAP FOR ECONOMIC RESILIENCE FROM PAGE TWO

for the North of England, we can see an exploration of working definitions.

“The ability to adapt both to shocks and to long-term changes”; “to resume form and function elastically following a disturbance”; “bounce back to pre-shock state or path”; and “capacity to maintain core system performance through adaptability of structure and function”. However, one striking point noted by the paper is that all these definitions “refer to or imply returning to some kind of ‘normal’ state, rather than adapting or transforming fundamentally in response to the change”. For The Bahamas (and the region), I think this is the crux of the matter. Returning to some level of normality and stabilising the economy is

Wednesday, July 8, 2020, PAGE 5 critical. However, without serious transformation, which is by no means arguing for an abandonment of tourism, the economy will maintain the same level of vulnerability to external shocks it had before the crisis. Long-term transformation is necessary.

The economy must adapt to what the new global norms and trends are dictating. For example, the way tourism services are delivered going forward will be different from the past, which may impact the level of earnings enjoyed before.

This will demand re-thinking what we produce and the economic sectors into which we may move. The role of government in driving the strategic thrust for the re-imagined state must be accepted with greater conviction. While this may be an uncomfortable position, the truth is, especially in a small island state with a limited internal market and ability for scaling up, the government will consistently have to do a bit more than it would like in helping to drive the economy.

Where the government is the dominant employer, and income-earning sectors

highly concentrated, it is not hard to see why this argument is important.

However, until the government creates an environment which better facilitates greater economic robustness, that will be a norm and a limiting one. In an economy where consistent growth is elusive, focus must be place on this.

The search for remedial strategies should answer why,for over a decade, Bahamian GDP growth has meandered below one percent annually. What new plays can be introduced to the economic arrangement, and what existing elements of the economy are currently restricting its growth and should be eliminated?

Resilience must embrace adaptive behaviours.

Simply tinkering with the status quo is not going to be enough. There should deep exploration aimed at recognising what exists, what has positive value to give, and where we were not doing enough or not being strategic enough. To get to the resilient economy all efforts must be taken to maximise limited resources.

To be continued.....

PAGE 6, Wednesday, July 8, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

WorDS

4

MARVIN BLONDIE

➔

CL o

6

5

Solution in Monday’s puzzle pull-out

Daily Express Friday, April 24, 2020

Puzzles

There are six answers t be entered clockwise clock face. Each has four l each begins with the last two previous one, until we come f answer six ending with the firs answer one. Here are th 1 Sensible 2 Firn 3 Girl’s name 4 Pace 5 Youngster 6 Entertainment tro

➔

CARPE DIEM

1

➔

JUDGE PARKER

In the following passage, the numbers 12345 represent different letters: 4325 the 4343 artist once wrote a 132234 about a 4534 153425 called 3152 154522. Fuelled by 325, he was 3125 to complete a great 4532 of it before 154 time. Then his energy 51154, his inspiration 1254 away, and he 34454 little more to it. In the end, he 23152254 it simply “131125”, 132254 it up and threw it away.

Se Wi Ck

4

SuMTHiNg Fit the missing numbers into the grid below so that all the sums are correct – reading left to right or on single lines top to bottom. There are 11 squares to fill, with one digit in each, and the 11 digits you must use are listed beneath the grid. But where do they all go?

Solution in Monday’s puzzle pull-out

?

x

– CRUSADER PRIZE CROSSWORD acrOss 1 Speak sharply at fierce woman in plant (10) 6 Notice inclusion of the ears (4) 10 A Catholic curse about plaintiff (7) 11 New Romans, new conquerors (7) 12 Bacon and mash transported in vehicle (6,3) 13 Trouble for a horse returning gold (5) 14 Monk is remote about scripture lessons (5) 15 Again, lots about longing (9) 17 Soldiers’ terrible rage – that is a group of animals (9) 20 Wait a few hours without the Spanish (5) 21 Attendant confused left and right, resulting in depression (5) 23 Designs a plum sari – it has a pouch (9) 25 Accommodated and deceived (5,2) 26 Be more important than unfashionable and offensive (7) 27 Hollow study is on time (4) 28 Renowned for having made merry (10)

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

TIGER

CALVIN & HOBBES

x 4 1 2 3?

DOWN 1 Store ribbon around the top (5) = We’ve given you one digit – the 5 on the middle row.

2 Poor scan – noiseHere is rising (9) digits to fit in: are the missing 3 Mindset sadly includes 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5,106, 7, 9, 9 ? + bravery and lack of confidence (14) 4 Continental tin follows fair The Daily Mentathlon is in five parts, each consist arrangement (7) Express Puzzled 12 of our puzzles. Take the last letters of the answers to DITLOIDS, W 5 Transport QUIZ anthology OF THE(7) WEEK and the last letter of the first answer in CLO 7 Insect back round, sections. with Now rearrange those into a five letter word fo distinctive intonation (5) 14 15 8 Usual army scout deployed (9) 9 Basic sandwiches providing livelihood SAMurAi (5,3,6) SuDoku WorDSeArCH 18 14 Seethed, having acquired 6 9 4 7 17 8 5 2 4 7 3 1 9 6 2 5 1 3 8 R T E C A N D I D A T 3 9 1being 8 2 6 5 7 4 2 8 7 1 3 6 9 4 5 strange gait, 4 7 6 9 5 1 3 8 2 1 3 5 8 4 9 2 7 6 E N T R H P O L I T I sterilised (9) 2 8 7 3 1 5 6 4 9 8 5 1 6 9 4 7 2 3 F E O S G O K O K G A 4 5 2 9 7 8 1 3 4 7 6 3 1 2 8 5 9 16 Impudence61 by 3 9 6tsar 4 8 2– 5 time 7 9 2 3 5 7 8 4 6 1 E M V R O R V S O N E 5 2 8 7 6 9 4 3 1 8 5 2 7 6 9 4 8 3 5 1 2 22 A E E B F F V V E23R for flit (9) 7 6 3 1 8 4 9 2 5 1 7 6 3 4 8 2 21 5 1 6 9 7 R 9 1 to 4 5 be 3 2 7rebuilt 6 8 9 3 4 5 1 2 9 6 7 3 8 4 18 Love manor E I Q B W V E A L E R 1 4 6 3 8 5 9 2 7 next to church (7) 58 97 32 46 29 71 14 83 65 N L Z M H R S E S J M D R I E N S C E T A P 5 3 7 8opening 2 4 6 1 9 7 in 4 8 2 5 3 9 7 4 8 6 1 19 Her aloe fixes 2 1 8 6 9 7 3 5 4 2 6 9 8 7 1 5 6 2 3 9 4 U A M M I T N O N O U head (7) 9 6 4 5 1 3 2 8 7 5 1 3 6 9 4 8 25 3 1 2 7 5 3 4 5 1 7 2 9 6 8 5 2 8 3 9 7 1 4 6 M P E N O T R I X Z L 22 All right to7 have 8 9 3 5 a 6 1space 4 2 9 1 6 4 8 5 7 2 3 I N G R A Q F K U R P 1 2 6 4 8 9 7 3 5 4 3 7 2 1 6 9 5 8 made of wood (5) 4 9 1 2 6 8 5 7 3 7 8 5 1 4 9 6 3 2 T X A T M E R I T O C 8 5 2 7 3been 1 4 9 6 1 6 2 7 5 3 4 8 9 24 Enjoyed having M T I S S U A F L A M 6 7 3 9 4 5 8 2 1 3 4 9 6 2 8 5 1 7 27 28U I T dishonest about king (5) E V X T F C Z L SMALL CroSSWorD E O O B Y N C Q M Y R

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Across: 1 Abandoned, 7 Cellar, 9 Riddles, 10 Weed, 12 Den, 13 Process, 14 VIP, 15 Lost, 17 About to, 19 Stylus, 20 Telescope. Down: 1 Airwaves, 2 Brie, 3 Aid, 4 Delicious, 5 O level, 6 Eaves, 8 Ringtone, 11 Double, 13 Piste, 16 Stop, 18 TKO.

THe ALPHAbeAT

black squares: 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 23, 26, 29, 32, 37, 39.

Across: Short, Division, Town, Chuff, Ovum, Burgeon, Ajar, Am Proceeds, Taxi, Upstairs, Xylem Down: Coma, Plug, Hitch, Row Fill, Dark, Owlet, Pseudo TArgeT cAn you crack the Alphabeater?Brake, Each grid Ex Swipe, Unit, Maze.

LAbyriNTH number represents a letter – or black square.

09 airyinarty aryl bairn barnevery binaryletter birth of CroSS DoubT (Ded As Alphapuzzle, the alphabet brain brainy bran brat bray briny Across: JUDGEtoo! each ishair used. to complete the grid hairyBut harl you hart have LABYRINTH lair Down: POWER liar lira nary rail rain rainy rani rant

THE ALPHABEATE

TARGET

c E E l t o r l c

● The Target uses words in the main body of Chambers 21st Century Dictionary (1999 edition)

use the given letters and black squares below rhinal rial riyal tarn trail train tray SuMMiT uP the start. trialgrid tribalto trilby yarnthe grid is ‘rotationally and the 71 symmetrical’ – in other words, it80 looks same if you turn the page upside down.

Solution on Monday

09

*Calls you ne

A 13 26 3 31 25 26 20 11 7 26 B C 8 39 33 25 8 16 5 20 3 30 D E 6 35 2 25 15 11 33 18 7 14 F G 21 4 15 14 11 39 18 26 30 18 H I 17 6 40 30 3 28 17 3 36 31 TODAY’S TARGET J Good 12; very good 18; excellent 24 K 22 35 28 35 7 35 8 2 35 31 (or more). Solution on Monday L M 30 39 36 7 13 7 4 1 17 11 call 0907 181 2585 N for today’s target solution O 25 4 as a31 34 crossword, 35 9 the 3 task26in Kakuro 4 34 Best described number *Calls cost 80p per minute plus your telephone P all of the empty squares, using numbers 1 to 9, so is to fill company’s network access charge.

Q 27 8 horizontal 5 4 block 5 equals 8 the 15 number 6 15 the sum of each to its23 R the sum of each vertical block equals the number left, and on its S top. number block31 more32 20No 17 24 may 31be used 12 in6 the same 16 35 than once.

The difficulty level of the Conceptis Kakuro T increases Monday Sunday.

U 25from27 11 to32 18 26 13 37 36 4 FIND where the fleet of ships shown is hidden V in the grid. The numbers to the right of and W 31 30 10 24 36 4 15 18 3 29 below the grid indicate how many of the squares in that row are filled in with ships or XYesterday’s Yesterday’s parts of ships. The ships do not touch each Y 6 21 4 9 9 31 35 25 10 25 other, even diagonally. Some squares have Sudoku Answer Kakuro Answer Z HOW many words of four letters or more can you make from the letters shown here? in making a word, each letter may be used once only. Each must contain the centre letter and there must be at least one nine-letter word. no plurals or verb forms ending in “s”.

DENNIS THE MENACE Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so the each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

BATTLESHIPS

been filled in to start you off.

Solution on Monday

1

1

CRYPTIC PUZZLE 1 It has a pleasant point of view (6) 4 Gentleman to escort a lady (6) 9 He is trained in horse jumping (7) 10 Turn out a bad scholar? (5) 11 Prone to being deceitful (5) 12 Catching and getting in fish (7) 13 Star usherette? (7,4) 18 He mingles with the crowd to get food (7) 20 To avoid it, make a stew hash (5) 22 Positional defence (5) 23 Here in France a cape

9

2 A revival in witchcraft? (5)

14

18

6 Insinuated that

1 3

F

2

G

4

H

0

I

4

J

2

6

2

2

7

2

was a fibber too (7)

22

21

25

14 Self-praise when times go badly (7) 15 A drop in the ocean (3,4) 17 Drunken crones may strike out (6)

makes one break

19 A bit of exercise (5)

into a grin (6)

21 Little in the way of dessert (5)

Yesterday’s Cryptic Solution

Yesterday’s Easy Solution

Across: 1 Impetus, 5 Cable, 8 Goes with a bang, 9 Tiara, 10 Elector, 11 Creche, 12 Touchy, 15 Matador, 17 Sense, 19 Shake your head, 20 Otter, 21 Sweater.

Across: 1 Play-off, 5 Posse, 8 Out of one’s head, 9 Sheen, 10 Swelter, 11 Weaken, 12 Outcry, 15 Inertia, 17 Polka, 19 Grin and bear it, 20 Elegy, 21 Moneyed.

Down: 1 Pious, 2 At the same time, 3 Offence, 4 Finish, 5 Paste, 6 Spectacularly, 7 Elderly, 11 Wriggle, 13 Umpteen, 14 Tandem, 16 Toady, 18 Acted.

Across 1 Period of ten years (6) 4 To the other side (6) 9 German measles (7) 10 Attempt (5) 11 Best part (5) 12 Really (2,5) 13 Predetermined (3,3,5) 18 State of lawlessness (7) 20 Having lofty ideals (5) 22 Angry (5) 23 Idealistic (7) 24 Slippery (6) 25 Illusory (6)

2

2

2

4 x submarine

23

24

1

2 x cruiser

speech (6) 8 Unlawful gatherings? (6,5)

3

3 x Destroyer

the naughty child 7 A highly commendatory

1

1 x Battleship

17 20

9 10

E

15

19

8

D

16

a man on board (5)

7

1

12

13

5 Yet she may be

6

2

dressed but put on a big act (7)

5

B

10

11

3 Second-rate and badly

extreme cold (7)

Down: 1 Ingot, 2 Prepared to act, 3 Towpath, 4 Setter, 5 Crate, 6 Beauty contest, 7 Eagerly, 11 Comes to, 13 Observe, 14 Proofs, 16 Drear, 18 Eider.

5

4

C

dancer (6)

16 Fights for leftovers (6)

25 An old fool (6)

4

3

1

8

1 A professional

is needed for the 24 A comparison which

3

Down

EASY PUZZLE

Across

2

2

A

Down 1 Straight (6) 2 Strong thick rope (5) 3 Quandary (7) 5 Split (5) 6 To hide (7) 7 A mowing implement (6) 8 Constantly (3,2,3,3) 14 Ignorant (7) 15 Disparage (3,4) 16 Audacious (6) 17 Occurring in spring (6) 19 A salad plant (5) 21 Corrupt payment (5)

3

1

2

3

21

22

23

4

5

6

7

8

9

24

25

26

27

28

29

■

10

11

30 31

■

12

13

14

32

33

34 35

■

F

15

● Alternatively, for six Extra Letter clues to you text DXBEAT to 84901. Texts cost £1 plus your usua

KEIJO 4 1 3

3

2

3

4

1

1

2

1

2

4

2

3

4

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, July 8, 2020, PAGE 7

Bahamas needs Realtor ‘bombed’ by buyer interest surge tax structure to match tourism FROM PAGE ONE

FROM PAGE ONE

are very clear for The Bahamas, but it is the implementation that has been difficult. Ultimately, the high net worth individuals will continue to have high net wealth, and the need for tax management and tax planning has not subsided. It is going to continue to be necessary.

“We have to start thinking about creating a tax policy environment that is going to allow us to attract five to seven million consumers in our financial services industry. What numbers we had in the past will be nowhere near that level, but when you talk about diversifying we have to stop seeing the borders that are The Bahamas and simply focus our attention on every market in the world being open to us.”

Larry Gibson, vice-president of Colonial Pension Services (Bahamas), who

moderated the webinar, agreed that The Bahamas’ tax structure was no longer fit for financial services’ purpose.

“Our current tax policy has probably spent its useful course ten to 15 years ago,” he said.

Kevin Burrows, founder of Diomedea Capital Advisors, told the webinar: “We are forced to look inward, and in The Bahamas I think we are behind the curve compared to Jamaica. Jamaica has a much more stronger, homegrown investment culture than we do.

“The Jamaican stock market has been booming for years, and participation in their stock market is widespread. It has created really strong and really talented homegrown, domestic, Jamaican asset managers who are now looking to expand throughout the Caribbean.

“In The Bahamas we need to get off of our high horse, so to speak, vis-à-vis the rest of the Caribbean and get in on that game.”

Explaining that he now focuses on regional projects within the Caribbean, Mr Burrows said there are “economies of scale.

There is a lot of capital that is coming into the region, and we are eminently qualified to deal with that capital ourselves,” he added.

“We have the on-theground knowledge, so should someone in New York or London be directing investments into the Caribbean?

No. That should be done out of The Bahamas, and out of Jamaica and out of Barbados.

“We need to get our swagger back and say we are as qualified as they are, plus we have intimate knowledge of what is needed on the ground and as much knowledge as the person sitting in New York.”

on storm-ravaged Abaco to “take chances with purchasing for pennies on the dollar” in the hope that real estate prices will rise in line with the island’s rebuilding.

“It’s surprising to me,” he revealed. “I didn’t think we’d be this busy the first week that the borders are fully re-opened. It’s definitely more than I expected.

We’re definitely getting a lot more calls and a lot more people coming to visit.”

Converting this interest into actual sales will be critical for both the real estate industry and wider Bahamian economy in the short to medium-term as the country, and its major tourism source markets, continue to grapple with the fall-out from COVID-19.

Admitting that “we have a long road ahead on the economy” to restore output to pre-pandemic levels, Mr Dupuch said the government needed to urgently explore ways to stimulate a foreign exchange source that has become even more

vital in tourism’s absence.

“The government has to encourage real estate sales, and has to try somehow to encourage people to invest in property and also to refurbish property,” he told Tribune Business. “The way our stamp [VAT] structure works, it’s an inflationary impact on a home.

“You buy it for $100,000, and by the time you close the cost is nearer to $120,000 with all the taxes and costs. If you want to sell it and recoup those costs, you have to put it on the market for $120,000, which is like $160,000 gross. It’s inflationary, and why people don’t refurbish homes.

“In the US it’s big business, but paying VAT when you buy and sell it, you lose the profit from fixing the home up. That’s why nobody does it. Nobody buys a fixer upper to resell because there’s no profit in it,” Mr Dupuch continued.

“We should be opening the housing market and encouraging people to buy.

He added that persons selling property for less than the price they bought it

at, meaning they will make a loss on the deal, were further penalised by having to pay the VAT transaction tax on the disposal.

“If you lose money on your property you shouldn’t have to pay the tax again in my opinion,” Mr Dupuch said, noting that gains on property sales in the US were captured by a capital gains tax - something that The Bahamas does not have.

Mario Carey, principal of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate MCR Group Bahamas, told Tribune Business that his office was also “extremely busy” as a result of buyer interest following the emergence from COVID-19 lockdown.

“None of my agents are saying, boy Mario, we’re really afraid, things have really slowed down,” he said. “We have a diversified group of buyers. One guy was looking to rent a home for $85,000 a month at the high-end. I’m not sure how that’s going to come together, but it looks like they want it to.”

CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF THE CHILDREN AT RANFURLY

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Their further development requires additional support in the form of a Transitional Home, planned for construction on the Ranfurly property.

This residence will cater to teenagers and young adults who are beyond school age, but need accommodation while they find work and gain independence from the Home.

We look forward to your continued support in this worthwhile endeavour.

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For more information visit: www.ranfurlyhome.org Please “Like” us on Facebook Ranfurly Home for Children, Mackey Street P.O. Box 1413 Nassau, Bahamas 242-393-3115

MARKET REPORT www.bisxbahamas.com

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that MONIQUE SMITH, Cowpen Road, Lyond Road Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 8th day of July 2020 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

(242) 323-2320

ALL SHARE INDEX: CLOSE: 2,092.54 | CHG: -5.88 | %CHG: -0.28 | YTD: -139.06 | YTD%: -6.23 BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.20 22.65 2.00 1.79 2.50 7.00 6.75 5.47 8.59 4.50 6.16 12.77 3.64 5.10 10.88 8.44 16.99 4.25 9.40 15.21

52WK LOW 3.15 20.91 0.67 1.79 1.67 5.50 5.39 2.00 5.32 3.62 5.60 11.05 2.53 2.20 8.00 7.10 13.04 3.20 8.00 13.90

PREFERENCE SHARES

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

(242) 323-2330

TUESDAY, 7 JULY 2020

1.00

1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 10.00 0.90

SECURITY AML Foods Limited APD Limited Benchmark Bahamas First Holdings Limited Bank of Bahamas Bahamas Property Fund Bahamas Waste Cable Bahamas Commonwealth Brewery Commonwealth Bank Colina Holdings CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank Consolidated Water BDRs Doctor's Hospital Emera Incorporated Famguard Fidelity Bank Focol Finco J. S. Johnson Bahamas First Holdings Preference Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Fidelity Bank Class A Focol Class B

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00 100.00

115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 102.00

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

SYMBOL LAST CLOSE AML 3.17 APD 17.43 BBL 1.62 BFH 1.79 BOB 1.67 BPF 6.00 BWL 6.75 CAB 2.76 CBB 5.32 CBL 3.85 CHL 6.16 CIB 11.26 CWCB 3.10 DHS 5.10 EMAB 9.83 FAM 8.44 FBB 14.50 FCL 3.84 FIN 8.97 JSJ 15.20 BFHP CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB

CLOSE 3.17 17.43 1.62 1.79 1.67 6.00 6.75 2.76 5.32 3.83 6.16 11.26 2.57 4.90 9.68 8.44 14.50 3.80 8.97 15.20

1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 0.90

1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 0.90

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.02 0.00 0.00 -0.53 -0.20 -0.15 0.00 0.00 -0.04 0.00 0.00

115 3,200

8,000

3,000

3,000

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

SECURITY Fidelity Bank Note 22 (Series B) + Bahamas First Holdings Limited

SYMBOL FBB22 BFHB

LAST SALE 100.00 100.00

CLOSE 100.00 100.00

CHANGE 0.00 0.00

Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2015-1-3Y BGS: 2014-12-5Y BGS: 2015-1-5Y BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-3Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-3Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y

BAH29 BG0203 BG0105 BG0205 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0303 BG0307 BG0330 BG0403 BG0407

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing)

VOLUME

EPS$ 0.239 0.932 0.000 0.000 0.070 1.760 0.369 -0.438 0.140 0.184 0.449 0.722 0.102 0.467 0.646 0.728 0.816 0.203 0.939 0.631 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

VOLUME

DIV$ 0.170 1.260 0.020 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.260 0.000 0.000 0.120 0.220 0.720 0.434 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.540 0.120 0.200 0.610 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

P/E 13.3 18.7 N/M N/M N/M N/M 18.3 -6.3 38.0 20.8 13.7 15.6 25.2 10.5 15.0 11.6 17.8 18.7 9.6 24.1

YIELD 5.36% 7.23% 1.23% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 3.85% 0.00% 0.00% 3.13% 3.57% 6.39% 16.89% 1.22% 3.39% 2.84% 3.72% 3.16% 2.23% 4.01%

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

INTEREST Prime + 1.75% 6.25%

19-Oct-2022 30-Sep-2025

MATURITY

6.95% 4.00% 4.25% 4.25% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.00% 4.50% 6.25% 3.50% 4.25%

20-Nov-2029 30-Jul-2018 16-Dec-2019 30-Jul-2020 15-Dec-2021 30-Jul-2022 15-Dec-2044 30-Jul-2045 26-Jun-2018 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2018 15-Oct-2022

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.31 4.40 2.10 198.39 168.29 1.69 1.85 1.77 1.24 8.34 10.26 7.08 12.15 12.71 10.81 10.00 8.98 11.79

52WK LOW 1.67 3.30 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.64 1.77 1.72 1.07 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund Leno Preferred Income Fund Leno Growth Fund Leno Diversified Fund Leno Global USD Bond Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Equities Sub Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - High Yield Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Alternative Strategies Fund Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F

NAV 2.31 4.39 2.10 192.52 145.55 1.69 1.81 1.77 1.07 8.30 9.90 7.08 11.27 12.71 10.23 N/A 8.31 10.01

YTD% 12 MTH% 1.04% 3.87% 0.61% 2.93% 0.50% 2.50% -1.34% 2.23% -12.71% -5.79% 1.88% 3.90% -2.26% 2.49% 0.76% 3.56% -11.03% -8.03% -0.45% 8.36% -3.20% 11.46% 2.10% 5.15% -6.17% 3.54% 2.92% 5.55% -4.66% -3.81% N/A N/A -10.90% -4.30% -18.80% -12.00%

MARKET TERMS

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price

52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks

Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity

52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks

Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity

Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume

Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price

Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume

Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week

Change - Change in closing price from day to day

EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths

Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today

NAV - Net Asset Value

DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months

N/M - Not Meaningful

P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings

TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | COLONIAL 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225 | BENCHMARK 242-326-7333

NAV Date

31-Mar-2020 31-Mar-2020 27-Mar-2020 31-Mar-2020 31-Mar-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-Mar-2020 31-Mar-2020 31-Mar-2020

PAGE 8, Wednesday, July 8, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

Mostly sunny

Partly cloudy

Partly sunny

Partly sunny with a thunderstorm

Partly sunny; shower or t‑storm

Mostly sunny

High: 90°

Low: 79°

High: 90° Low: 79°

High: 90° Low: 80°

High: 90° Low: 80°

High: 90° Low: 80°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

101° F

89° F

103°-89° F

103°-90° F

102°-89° F

100°-88° F

ORLANDO

High: 89° F/32° C Low: 74° F/23° C

TAMPA

High: 90° F/32° C Low: 80° F/27° C

The higher the AccuWeather UV IndexTM number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.

tiDes For nassau High

The exclusive AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature® is an index that combines the effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine intensity, cloudiness, precipitation, pressure and elevation on the human body—everything that affects how warm or cold a person feels. Temperatures reflect the high and the low for the day.

N

almanac

E

W

ABACO

S

N

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 83° F/28° C

4‑8 knots

S

High: 93° F/34° C Low: 77° F/25° C

6‑12 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE

FREEPORT

High: 92° F/33° C Low: 79° F/26° C

N E S

E

W

WEST PALM BEACH

W

uV inDex toDay

TONIGHT

High: 91° F/33° C Low: 77° F/25° C

MIAMI

High: 94° F/34° C Low: 80° F/27° C

3‑6 knots

Statistics are for Nassau through 2 p.m. yesterday Temperature High ................................................... 90° F/32° C Low .................................................... 81° F/27° C Normal high ....................................... 88° F/31° C Normal low ........................................ 75° F/24° C Last year’s high ................................. 86° F/30° C Last year’s low ................................... 73° F/23° C Precipitation As of 2 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.31” Year to date ............................................... 25.08” Normal year to date ................................... 15.15”

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

High: 90° F/32° C Low: 79° F/26° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 83° F/28° C

N

KEY WEST

High: 92° F/33° C Low: 85° F/29° C

S

E

W S

6‑12 knots

2.5 3.0

5:04 a.m.

5:00 p.m.

0.1 0.2

Thursday

11:45 a.m. ‑‑‑‑‑

2.5 ‑‑‑‑‑

5:48 a.m.

5:47 p.m.

0.3 0.5

Friday

12:01 a.m.

12:32 p.m.

2.9 2.5

6:31 a.m.

6:36 p.m.

0.4 0.7

Saturday

12:46 a.m.

1:22 p.m.

2.7 2.4

7:14 a.m.

7:28 p.m.

0.5 0.9

Sunday

1:31 a.m.

2:12 p.m.

2.5 2.5

7:58 a.m.

8:23 p.m.

0.6 1.0

Monday

2:20 a.m.

3:04 p.m.

2.4 2.5

8:43 a.m.

9:20 p.m.

0.6 1.0

Tuesday

3:10 a.m.

3:56 p.m.

2.3 2.6

9:30 a.m. 0.6 10:18 p.m. 1.0

Sunrise Sunset

6:27 a.m.

8:03 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

11:00 p.m.

9:35 a.m.

Last

New

First

Full

Jul. 12

Jul. 20

Jul. 27

Aug. 3

ANDROS

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 82° F/28° C

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 83° F/28° C

N

High: 89° F/32° C Low: 83° F/28° C

E

W S

LONG ISLAND

tracking map

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 82° F/28° C

L

Ht.(ft.)

sun anD moon

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 82° F/28° C

N

4‑8 knots

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

Ht.(ft.)

10:58 a.m.

11:18 p.m.

CAT ISLAND

E

W

Low

Today

6‑12 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 88° F/31° C Low: 82° F/28° C

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS

tonight’s lows.

RAGGED ISLAND High: 87° F/31° C Low: 82° F/28° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 90° F/32° C Low: 82° F/28° C

N

H

N E

W

E

W

H

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 82° F/28° C

S

S

7‑14 knots

8‑16 knots

marine Forecast ABACO ANDROS CAT ISLAND CROOKED ISLAND ELEUTHERA FREEPORT GREAT EXUMA GREAT INAGUA LONG ISLAND MAYAGUANA NASSAU RAGGED ISLAND SAN SALVADOR

Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday:

WINDS SE at 6‑12 Knots SSW at 6‑12 Knots SE at 4‑8 Knots ESE at 4‑8 Knots ESE at 6‑12 Knots SE at 7‑14 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots SSE at 7‑14 Knots SE at 6‑12 Knots SE at 6‑12 Knots S at 6‑12 Knots SW at 4‑8 Knots SE at 6‑12 Knots ESE at 6‑12 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots SSE at 6‑12 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots SE at 7‑14 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots SE at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 4‑8 Knots SE at 4‑8 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots SE at 6‑12 Knots SE at 6‑12 Knots SE at 6‑12 Knots

WAVES 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑2 Feet 0‑1 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 3‑5 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑2 Feet 3‑5 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 3‑6 Feet 5‑9 Feet 1‑2 Feet 0‑1 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑2 Feet

To advertise ALL your LEGAL NOTICES, call The Tribune’s Sales Department

502-2394

VISIBILITY 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 6 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles

WATER TEMPS. 86° F 86° F 88° F 89° F 86° F 86° F 86° F 86° F 86° F 87° F 87° F 87° F 88° F 88° F 86° F 86° F 86° F 86° F 87° F 87° F 87° F 88° F 86° F 86° F 86° F 87° F