11182019 BUSINESS

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18TH, 2019

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Harbour Island Dorian leaves 3,000 developer faces homes ‘uninhabitable’ $1m legal battle By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

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URRICANE Dorian left almost 3,000 homes “uninhabitable�, a newly-released report has revealed, as it inflicted $1.487bn worth of damage on the housing sector in Abaco and Grand Bahama.

The long-awaited assessment of the category five storm’s financial impact, produced by the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) and other

• Some 9,000 residences damaged by storm • ‘Social sector’ suffers $1.6bn of impacts • Almost 50% of storm’s $3.4bn total hit multilateral agencies, projected that this nation has taken a total $3.438bn hit through physical damage, economic/revenue losses and “additional costsâ€? related to issues such as the Grand Bahama oil spill and environmental damage.

Housing, not surprisingly, was identified as the sector most impacted by Dorian with around 9,000 homes representing more than 11

million square feet of physical property - damaged to some degree by its winds, storm surge, falling trees and flying debris. “Approximately 9,000 homes, and in excess of 11 million square feet of structures, have sustained some damage on the two islands. On Abaco, more than 75 percent of the dwellings were somehow affected, and approximately

57 percent of the houses were severely damaged.

Central Abaco (Marsh Harbour), Treasure Cay, and Hope Town were the most affected locations,� the joint report found. “Damage to the housing sector on the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama is estimated at $1.48bn, 88.9 percent of which took place

SEE PAGE 3

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A BITTER $1m legal battle has erupted between the developer of a controversial Harbour Island marina and its former project manager who has a history of convictions and run-ins with law enforcement.

Bernard Ross, previously described as the “local representative� for the multi-million dollar Briland Residences & Marina project, is alleging that Michael Wiener and his company, 4M Harbour Island Ltd, reneged on

making a $500,000 payment that was agreed as part of a deal that would see him exit all involvement with the development.

In a lawsuit filed with the central California federal court on Friday, Mr Ross is alleging that he has “suffered at least $1m in damages� on the basis that Mr Wiener is unlikely to make the next $500,000 installment payment that is due on January 17, 2019.

The document, which has been obtained by Tribune Business, claims that Mr Ross - who was convicted of

SEE PAGE 4

Arawak port beats profit target by 23% By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Nassau Container Port’s (NCP) operator has beaten its first quarter profit target by 23 percent despite forecasting that full-year net income will be $763,155 less than it achieved in 2019.

Arawak Port Development Company (APD), unveiling its 2019 annual report, said its bottom line for the three months to end-September 2019 was $398,510 ahead of internal forecasts despite projecting that full-year profits will be down 9.5 percent

year-over-year.

The BISX-listed operator of New Providence’s main commercial shipping port, through which almost all cargos must pass, said that it remained both “conservative and optimistic� and did not see any “significant� increase in volumes passing across its bulkhead despite the presence of investments at Hurricane Hole, GoldWynn and The Pointe, along with Atlantis’s upgrades and expansion at Albany. “For the 2020 fiscal year we are budgeting gross revenue of $30.158m or

SEE PAGE 6

Private sector sees $1bn Dorian blow By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamian economy’s productive sectors have suffered a combined $621m damages from Hurricane Dorian, a newly-released report has revealed, with tourism sustaining a half a billion dollar blow.

The much anticipated report on the category five storm’s economic and financial impact, produced by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and

other multilateral agencies, reveals that it inflicted a $1.04bn hit to the private sector alone through combined damages, income/ revenue losses and other assorted costs.

Besides the physical damage, the IDB together with the United Nations’ (UN) Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and various global health bodies estimated that the tourism and agriculture/

SEE PAGE 5

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PAGE 2, Monday, November 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

BAHAMAS: 90% OF DIVING SECTOR WITHSTOOD DORIAN THE Bahamas delivered the message that 90 percent of its dive industry remains operational postDorian when the Ministry of Tourism and private firms attended the sector’s largest trade show.

DEMA, considered the world’s sole trade-only event for diving, action watersports and travel professionals, was held from November 13-16 at the Orange County Convention Centre in Orlando.

The Bahamas was represented by members of the Bahamas Dive Association (BDA) and the Ministry of Tourism & Aviation, who joined forces to reiterate that this nation remains open for business despite the tragic blow inflicted by Hurricane

THE BAHAMAS AT DEMA Dorian.

Neal Watson, the BDA’s president, and one of the group’s leaders, said: “The timing of the DEMA show has been perfect to meet with the dive travel leaders and publications to explain face-to-face our message.”

He added that the message is “because we are blessed with a country of 100,000 square miles, 700 islands and an area spanning from north to south over 500 miles, despite the disaster to Grand Bahama and the Abacos, 90 percent of the

country and the majority of The Bahamas’ dive operators were not impacted.”

The Bahamas Diving Association is the official dive association for The Bahamas, and represents 37 dive operators on 11 islands, including dive liveaboards.

“The best way to support those that were impacted [by Hurricane Dorian] is to visit The Bahamas and dive our beautiful reefs, walls and magnificent and abundant marine life,” said Mr Watson.

DEMA (The Diving Equipment and Marketing Association) is the trade association for the international scuba diving industry.

With more than 1,400 members, the association’s mission is to bring businesses together to grow the

diving industry worldwide.

The show enables members to connect with hundreds of dive equipment manufacturers, “travel destinations, apparel wholesalers and service providers, and network with 9,500-plus credentialed industry colleagues”, according to show organisers.

Prominently featured at the show, The Bahamas team not only spread the word about those dive businesses that were not affected, but also shared good news about the ones that were affected.

Show attendees learnt that despite the massive damage to the Abacos and Grand Bahama, UNEXSO in Freeport is open for business and Old Bahama Bay on West End, Grand

OUTSOURCER EXPANDS VIA 30% EQUITY SALE A CARIBBEAN business process outsourcer, which has an operation in Freeport, has sold a collective 30 percent equity stake to two Jamaican private equity firms to help finance further regional expansion.

PanJam Investment Ltd and Portland Private Equity have entered into agreements to each acquire a 15 per cent ownership stake in Outsourcing Management Ltd (OML), which trades as itelbpo. itelbpo, which was founded in 2012 in Montego Bay with just seven staff, now has operations in Jamaica, The Bahamas, Mexico and the US. It offers voice and digital contact centre services, as well as customer experience management, using at-home and on-site workforces comprised of over 2,700 team members.

“We are excited to partner with PanJam

and Portland,” said Yoni Epstein, itelbpo’s founding chairman and chief executive. “Their investments will go a long way in enabling our pursuit of scaling the business and building the region’s reputation as a destination for outsourcing.”

He added that itelbpo expects to add 5,000 new seats from new and existing clients, and through acquisitions, over the next five years. itelbpo last year said its Freeport-based unit will “grow by an additional 100 percent” after securing a contract to serve US-based utilities.

Initially known as Island Outsourcers, the company moved into Freeport in 2013 as Grand Bahama’s first business process oursourcing (BPO) operator when it won the contract to act as the Ministry of Tourism’s call centre. It is also the business who Bahamasair’s reservations

Bahama, reopened on November 1. Brendal’s Dive in Abaco, despite taking the brunt of Dorian, saw its dock survive and its shop is now being repaired.

Other Bahamas-based DEMA show exhibitors included Aggressor Adventures; All Star Liveaboard; Juliet Sailing & Diving; Seadragon Bahamas; Bimini Scuba Centre; Bimini Water Adventures; Riding Rock Inn Resort & Marina; Stuart Cove’s; and UNEXSO. Ministry of Tourism representatives present included William Cline; its senior director of vertical markets, Greg Rolle; and Bahamas vertical/sports executives, Ahmad Williams and Aram Bethel.

ITELBPO headquarters in Montego Bay.

department has been outsourced to. itelbpo, which employs 150 persons in Freeport, specialises in handling customer queries through phone and digital services.

It has 1,500 employees company-wide.

“The Bahamas facility is expected to grow by an additional 100 percent, resulting from a newlywon contract that serves the utilities industry in the US,” the company said in a 2018 statement.

“itelbpo’s future plans include an expansion of its global workforce to 5,000 staff members within the next five years, including bringing its work-fromhome model into the Caribbean. The planned expansion includes staff increases at its Freeport location, as well a continued diversification of the services offered there.”

Ricardo Hutchinson, Portland’s vice-president of investments, said of their move: “We are happy

to partner with itelbpo given its contribution to regional employment, which aligns with our strategy of fostering growth for the enrichment of the local and regional economies.

We believe that itelbpo has a bright future, with further geographic expansion, technological advances and strong relationships with some of the world’s biggest brands.”

Joanna Banks, PanJam’s senior vice-president of new business development

and strategy, described the transaction as “a representation of PanJam’s commitment to invest in regional companies that embody the entrepreneurial spirit.

“The burgeoning business process outsourcing sector is a cornerstone of our economic growth, and itelbpo is leading the charge by ensuring that Jamaican talent participates and benefits at every level,” she added.

BTVI EXPOSES STUDENTS TO FURTHER OPPORTUNITIES THE Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) has held a college fair to enable students to explore further education opportunities available upon completion of their studies.

Present during the fair were representatives of Florida Memorial University, Georgia State University, Fanshawe College and the Lyford Cay Scholarship Foundations.

Javano Collins, a BTVI student and software engineering major, said: “I hope to discover a lot of information and opportunities that will allow me to help my country and fill the gaps that will make us globally competitive in science and technology.”

Fellow technological major, O’Neil Charlton, searched the fair in search of opportunities to further his education. “I’m hoping to gather as much information and scholarship opportunities as I can from the colleges present

A GEORGIA State University representative shares information about the school with a BTVI student. here so I can further my education and gain up to a PhD from one of the various accredited colleges BTVI is associated with,” said the information technology major.

BTVI’s student affairs department has been hosting two college fairs per year for eight years. Racquel Bethel, dean of student affairs, said this tradition exposes students to the many opportunities available to them through BTVI.

“We have a growing population of students, many of whom intend to matriculate into schools abroad following their studies at BTVI. With these college fairs, we want to give them a first-hand look at what is available for them through the schools we partner with that will allow them to use the credits they’ve already earned at BTVI towards furthering their education,” said Ms Bethel.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, November 18, 2019, PAGE 3

‘SHOCK’ OVER FREEPORT RETAILER CLOSURE CLAIMS

By YOURI KEMP

EXECUTIVES at a major Freeport hardware store have revealed they were “just as shocked as anyone else” to hear “rumours” of its demise following the hit from Hurricane Dorian.

James Rolle, Dolly Madison Homecentre’s general manager, told Tribune

Business that suggestions the company is set to close are untrue. “We don’t know anything about the store closing down,” he said.

“We heard rumours going around ourselves, and we are just as shocked as anyone else.

“We are just trying to see how much more space we can provide to open up more of our space. We moved from our service

department, and we are now we are operating out of our loading dock or upper warehouse. I spoke personally to the company’s owner just recently, who gave me no indication that the store is closing down or going out of business.”

Mr Rolle said Dolly Madison was awaiting payment of its Dorian-related insurance claim so it can fully restock and re-open. “We

have been able to duplicate 80 percent of the inventory we used to have in the main store, but not at the scale where we used to have it open for the public,” he added.

“We are going to be here in our upstairs loading dock for a while. We have not been able to make any clean-up in the main store, and we are still working with the insurance company on our settlement.

The insurance company is still going through the assessments of our main store. We are pleased with the response from the community. We are steadily seeing an increase in the volume of business on a weekly basis.”

Mr Rolle continued: “We went through a whole lot during Dorian and we just can’t open back up like that.

We have put up signage in our main marquees in order

to let people know that we are still open.”

He suggested that what may have given persons the impression Dolly Madison was going out of business was the removal of all damaged inventory from its store it to the landfill. “The clean-up is ongoing. We got rid of all of the debris from the front of our store. Mainly the damaged inventory we got rid of,” Mr Rolle said.

Dorian leaves 3,000 Agencies team on cascarilla industry homes ‘uninhabitable’

By YOURI KEMP

HAITIAN BURRIS FILBURT, right, and another man stand on the extensive damage and destruction in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in The Mudd, Abaco.

Photo: Gonzalo Gaudenzi/AP FROM PAGE ONE on Abaco. Losses in the housing sector are attributed to the interruption of accommodation and rental services due to severe damage or destruction of the house, making it temporarily or permanently uninhabitable. The assessment team estimated losses at $56.8m resulting from 2,894 homes left uninhabitable after the hurricane.”

The report, a team effort between the IDB, United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and the PanAmerican and World Health Organisations (PAHO and WHO), said a further $45.9m in additional costs will be incurred in removing debris and demolishing unsafe structures.

The document provides a further insight into the economic and social blow Dorian has inflicted upon The Bahamas, especially Abaco and Grand Bahama, as its scope includes not just the physical damage to homes, businesses and utilities infrastructure but the likely economic and income losses caused by commercial activity - especially in the former island - coming to a complete halt as well as clean-up/recovery costs.

“In total, 31 public buildings (excluding schools, hospitals/clinics and shelters that were assessed in other sectors) and government offices were affected,” the report said. “Damage to the public building sector is estimated at $10.6m.

Additional costs to demolition and debris removal in public buildings are estimated at $1m. There was no losses related to public buildings.”

It estimated that some 29,472 persons were impacted by damage to their homes and assets as a result of Dorian, with Abaco bearing the brunt of what it described as almost $1.6bn in damages to the “social sector” - which was classified as education and health, as well as housing.

“Damage in the social sector was $1.6bn; 85.3 percent took place on Abaco,” the assessment report found. “Ninety-three percent of the damage was in housing, 4.6 percent in education while 2.4 percent occurred in the health sector. Approximately 93.8 percent of the damage in the social sector happened to private property, and the remaining 6.2 percent in public property.

“Losses for the social sector are estimated to be $92.4m. Of those, $65m were

in housing, $21.4m in health and $6m in education.” The IDB/ECLAC report warned that the healthcare system’s capacity to provide services “has been significantly hampered” on both Abaco and Grand Bahama due to the loss of infrastructure, medical supplies, equipment, vehicles and personnel.

“The estimated damage in infrastructure, medical equipment, furniture, supplies and others to the health sector on Abaco and Grand Bahama attributable to Hurricane Dorian has been estimated at $37.7m,” the report said. “A total of $21.4m is the estimated cost of health services operations disruption.

“The disruption covers three time periods: Before, during and after the hurricane. Additional costs are related to the emergency response and provision of temporary relief, and are estimated as $5.3m.”

With Dorian’s total healthcare sector impact pegged at $64.4m, the IDB/ ECLAC assessment added that 45 educational facilities suffered “varying levels of damage” impacting some 10,546 students and 796 teachers.

“Seven schools were altogether destroyed,” it confirmed. “The widespread damage to educational facilities amounted to $72m. Losses in the subsector, which comprises the estimated value of lost instruction time along with the value of tuition refunds for students no longer returning for post-secondary level education, totalled $6.8m.

“The remaining costs included additional costs incurred during the recovery efforts, which amounted to $21m. They include the removal of rubble, school furniture to accommodate re-assigned students and teachers, special equipment to conduct classes, fencing, security, school meals, payment of grants, security, psychosocial support to teachers and staff, enrollment fees and costs associated with the enrollment drive conducted by the Ministry of Education for displaced students.

“The estimated costs across the two islands were equally distributed despite the student and teacher population on Abaco being significantly smaller than that of Grand Bahama; an indication of the magnitude of the damage on Abaco. Public sector institutions incurred the brunt of the costs across the affected islands, with a total estimated cost of $74m.”

GOVERNMENT agencies have allocated some $200,000 to hep stimulate the creation of a cascarilla industry in the southern Bahamas using the co-operative model.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources (MAMR) has teamed with agencies including the Bahamas Development Bank (BDB), the Bahamas Agricultural and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI), Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and the Bahamas Environment, Science & Technology (BEST) Commission to revive the industry on Acklins, Crooked Island and Cat Island.

“The cascarilla bark is a key ingredient in the popular aperitif, Campari. The bark is currently exported to Italy, the United Kingdom, France, the United States of America and Germany. The oil is very valuable and used in manufacturing perfumes and medicines, and the export potential and value is tremendous for this plant,” said CARDI country representative, Dr Michelle Singh.

Carlton Bowleg, parliamentary secretary in the ministry, said: “The MAMR, Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC), the Department of Forestry, Department of Cooperative Development, BAMSI, BEST Commission, the Inter-American Institute of for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA) and CARDI, in a collaborative effort, will be embarking on a week-long trip to Acklins

to continue the cascarilla industrialisation project.

“The key programme objective is to increase exports of bark and oil through the development of a sustainable cascarilla industry. This will be enabled by the organised propagation of the plant; facilitation of at least two commercially viable cascarilla oil processing facilities; and the creation of at least five new ancillary businesses.

“A team will be travelling to Acklins for the period of November 20-30 to, first, prepare a pilotscale extraction facility for potential commercial production that will be conducted by two chemists from the University of the West Indies (UWI). Secondly, to establish a nursery for the cascarilla plantation where CARDI and BAMSI will be the facilitators, and thirdly to train the new Acklins island Cooperative Board.”

Dave Smith, the Development Bank’s managing director, said he found the cascarilla industrialisation programme “in full flux” when he joined the BDB in August 2018. He credited Garnel Pelecanos and Justin Stirrup for doing “a lot of the initial heavy lift in terms of executing specifically designed programmes” to aid underserved communities in Acklins, Crooked Island and Samana Cay. Asked by Tribune Business how much investment will be required, Mr Smith said: “We are in the preliminary stages, and the cost at this particular point is not significant. It would be less than $20,000 to get this going and then, depending on the results of

CARLTON BOWLEG that, we will determine the level of funding. Also, once the business plan is put together in terms of how fast we want to move, that will drive the cost.”

After these preliminary works are done, Mr Smith added: “In terms of the cost of the manufacturing equipment, that is not as significant as the economic benefit. So, if the initial system is less than $20,000 and that has to be procured, I imagine that it would not be more than $200,000.

“I think through the development of the cooperative arrangement it will provide an excellent opportunity for persons to be engaged. We have to do a lot of other work to get persons involved, but once they see the work being done more persons will get involved.”

This new initiative coincides with an existing programme being executed through the Department of Forestry and the Global

Environment Facility (GEF).

Danielle Culmer, an official with the department, said: “The project correlates well with an international project we had from the GEF. This is a United Nations Development Programme-funded project that was titled the ‘Pine Islands - forest and mangrove innovation and integration’ project.

“We had a component that dealt with sustainable livelihoods and looked at our cascarilla resource in Acklins, Crooked island, Samana Cays as well as Plana Cays. Then, when we heard that the BDB was doing the same thing we had already done, we decided to partner.

“The GEF project has been extended until 2021.

The funding for this component totals just under $500,000, but funding-inkind totals some $800,000 with the various agencies including the Forestry Unit, CARDI, BAIC and BAMSI.”

PAGE 4, Monday, November 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Harbour Island developer faces $1m legal battle FROM PAGE ONE

heroin possession in the US in 1976, serving a prison sentence - was contractually due a share of the Harbour Island development’s profits under a 2017 deal struck with Mr Wiener.

“On June 1, 2017, plaintiffs and defendant 4M and Mr Wiener] entered into a contract regarding the development of real property then known as Harbour Island Marina, The Bahamas,” Mr Ross alleged.

“Under this agreement, plaintiffs worked under the direction of defendant regarding the planning, financing and development for the project. In exchange, defendant would pay plaintiff a substantial monthly payment plus a percentage share of the project’s net profits with the plaintiff.”

BERNARD Ross and his wife, Holly.

The lawsuit, which names Mr Ross’s wife, Holly, and two Delaware companies they seemingly control as co-plaintiffs, then claimed: “In May 2019, defendant

sought to terminate the development contract and the parties disagreed about whether defendant properly terminated the development agreement,

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and about the amount of compensation defendant owed to plaintiffs.

The two sides reached “a settlement agreement and release” on June 10, 2019, with Mr Ross alleging: “To avoid litigation and obtain immediate payment, plaintiffs agreed to settle the matter at a substantial discount from what defendant owed them under the development agreement.”

The deal purportedly involved Mr Wiener making a series of payments to Mr Ross and his wife in return for them “vacating certain property in The Bahamas”.

While the first payment on June 17, 2019, was made, the second $500,000 installment - due on October 17 - was not forthcoming despite Mr Ross’s attorneys writing to Mr Wiener on October 31 to demand it be handed over

by November 6.

Claiming that no response was received, and that he and his wife had performed their side of the agreement, Mr Ross claimed: “Despite plaintiffs’ demand for payment, 4M breached the settlement agreement by failing to pay them the $500,000 payment

by October 17, 2019. Plaintiffs also anticipate that 4M will not make the $500,000 payment by January 17, 2020.

“As a direct result of 4M’s breaches and anticipated breaches, plaintiffs have suffered at least $1m in damages, the exact amount of which will be proven at trial, plus reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in enforcing the settlement agreement.”

The lawsuit described 4M as the “alter ego” of Mr Wiener, and claimed he had “controlled, dominated, managed and operated 4M as his alter ego to suit his convenience; used 4M funds and assets for his own personal use; disregarded legal formalities; used 4M as a mere shell, instrumentality or conduit for himself; manipulated

the assets and liabilities so as to concentrate the liabilities in 4M and the assets in himself; and used 4M to shield against personal obligations”.

Mr Wiener, via a spokesperson, declined to comment when contacted

by Tribune Business about the lawsuit yesterday.

However, this newspaper understands that the developer had explained to Mr Ross prior to the October payment data that he was withholding the second installment on the basis that the former project manager had left more work undone than previously thought.

It is unclear whether Mr Wiener now regrets his involvement with Mr Ross, who he previously said he had hired based on his personal moral principals of “forgiveness and second chances”.

The Tribune previously revealed Mr Ross’s colourful past in April this year, including how he escaped from police custody in 1976 - the same year he was charged and convicted of heroin possession.

Mr Ross was sentenced to five years for heroin possession, five years for violating his probation, and five years for escaping prison. The sentences were to run concurrently, but he only ultimately spent 11 months in prison.

He has legally changed his name at least twice. He changed his last name from Doelling to Ross in 1986, before filing a petition to change his name from Gary Ross to Bernard Ross in 2016. Yet despite this background the Immigration Department gave him a work permit that was valid from March 2018 to March 2020.

One source, speaking on condition of anonymity yesterday, suggested that Mr Ross’s lawsuit was merely a pressure tactic designed to force the developer to pay up. “He’s [Mr Wiener]

paying the price for having put his faith in the guy in the first instance, and saying we were aware of all this before but are going to give him a second chance,” they said.

“You put faith in the fella, give him a chance and he’s trying to bit the hand that feeds him.” Mr Wiener, when challenged about Mr Ross’ involvement by The Tribune earlier this year, said: “The project has not been put into Mr Ross’ hands. He is my local representative, but I am involved with the development on a daily basis.

“I am the only authorised legal representative and surrounded by the best talent in their fields (legal, construction management, general contractor, civil engineer, etc), all of whom are Bahamian with one exception.... Specifically, in reference to the employment of Mr Ross, this was a decision I made in furtherance of my own values, which includes the principles of forgiveness and second chances.”

A government representative said then that the Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA) was aware of Mr Ross’ record because Mr Wiener was open about it. The government was satisfied with the developer’s assurances, the source said.

4M’s Briland Residences & Marina project has itself been subject to Judicial Review challenge in the Bahamian Supreme Court by rival Harbour Island hotelier, Benjamin Simmons, and Briland Island Responsible Development.

Both sides have agreed that the site plan approval previously granted for the project should be quashed due to confusion over which planning law applies. Justice Diane Stewart now has to determine whether it is the Town Planning Act or the Planning and Subdivisions Act.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, November 18, 2019, PAGE 5

Private sector sees $1bn Dorian blow

FROM PAGE ONE

fisheries sectors, along with commerce in general, have lost over $400m in combined earnings.

And they added that the 50 percent reduction in projected GDP growth for The Bahamas in 2019 will cut salaries paid in the economy by $51.3m, with capital income falling $60.9m, knocking consumer spending and business investment back significantly.

Abaco has lost 7.3 percent of its economic output, accounting for 47 percent and 60 percent of the decrease in overall worker compensation and capital, while Grand Bahama lost two percent of its GDP. “The productive sector suffered damage estimated to be $620.9m, most of it in tourism ($529.6m) followed by commerce ($77.6m), and fisheries and agriculture ($13.6m). All damage in the productive sector happened in the private sector,” the joint report said.

“Losses for the productive sector were estimated at approximately $400.3m.

Abaco suffered 83.8 percent of those losses. Tourism accounted for most of the losses (81.2 percent) and suffered the greatest effects. This sector suffered a loss of $325.2m. The losses in commerce were $65m, and in fisheries and agriculture, $10.1m. All losses to the productive sector were private.”

Noting that the damage to resorts, marinas and other tourism-related assets, businesses and infrastructure was in some cases “catastrophic”, the report added the $325m “losses” related to “the disruption in the flow of tourists as result of the storm, and a changed public perception due to the

damaged structures.

“Most of the losses will be accrued in the high season of 2019 and 2020, tapering off as the recovery is expected to gain momentum. There were also additional costs for $15m related to demolition, debris removal and salvaging of sunken ships,” it continued.

Turning to commercial activity in general, the joint report said these losses in Abaco would be spread over three years given how long it would take the island’s economy to rebuild.

In contrast, the Grand Bahama losses only cover four months.

“The effect on the commerce sector was greater on Abaco than Grand Bahama due to the path of the hurricane, as the eye of the storm passed through the commercial centre of Marsh Harbour,” the IDB/ ECLAC assessment added.

“The structures that were made of concrete survived with less damage, while those made of lighter materials fared much worse. The total damage was estimated at $77.5m for the commerce sector: $71.4m on Abaco, and $6.2m on Grand Bahama.

“The losses to the sector are projected to occur over the expected length of recovery. On Grand Bahama, the losses are expected to accrue over just four months, while on Abaco it is expected to take a full three years. Due to the destruction of property and vital infrastructure, as well as the evacuation of residents, commercial expenditure will fall to zero in the month of the disaster and then gradually make its way back to pre-disaster levels as the recovery goes on,” it continued.

“The total losses estimated for the commerce

Invites applications from matured, qualified, and experienced candidates to fill the position of

MAINTENANCE MANAGER The successful candidate should have the following: • A High School Diploma (minimum), Vocational certificate preferred • Minimum 5 years’ experience in similar role or related field • Responsibility for securing school property • Knowledge of plumbing, carpentry, electrical, grounds supervision • Experience with Internal Security • A valid driver’s license • Be result oriented and energetic • Be a born-again Christian Duties Include: • Responsible for the day to day running of the Maintenance Department • In-house security of staff and students • Transport students to and from games and events • Oversee the upkeep of school property & equipment (including buildings and grounds) • Oversee the installation and repair of equipment and systems • Plan and schedule preventive maintenance activities • Plan, coordinate and execute various development projects of the school • Supervise staff and provide training as necessary • Secure property at end of day • Negotiate terms with vendors Application forms can be obtained from the school’s office or website (www.kingswayacademy.com) and should be submitted along with a recent color photo, resume, and Police certificate to: Business Assistant Kingsway Academy Box N-4378 Bernard Road Nassau, The Bahamas

sector are $65m: $64.5m on Abaco and $0.5m on Grand Bahama. Assessing over time, losses will be $22.1m or 34 percent of the total in 2019; $34.9m or 54 percent in 2020; $7.2m or 11 percent in 2021; and $0.8m or one percent in 2022.

“The additional costs for this sector comprise debris removal and demolition. At the time of the assessment team’s site visit to Abaco there was still an extensive amount of debris in Marsh Harbour. Debris removal and demolition of damaged properties will be expensive and will take additional time on Abaco. The total additional costs for the commerce sector are estimated at $4.8m: $3.8m on Abaco and $1m on Grand Bahama.”

Noting Dorian’s impact on fisheries catches, the assessment said: “The total damage in fisheries was $11m including damage to vessels, processing facilities and fishing gear. Considering the seasons for spiny lobster and stone crab, the losses in fisheries will be $7m and will represent a big fraction of the total losses.

“In agriculture the losses will be $2m, considering perennial and annual crops, and for poultry over $1.5m.

The total losses for fisheries and agriculture are estimated at $10m.”

As for infrastructure such

as roads, airports and ports, plus public utilities, the IDB/ECLAC assessment projected a total hit of more than $452m, with physical damages accounting for $239m and economic losses standing at $197m.

“Infrastructure experienced damage amounting to $239.1m,” the report said. “The power sector represents 54.1 percent of the total. The telecommunications sector suffered damage of $42.1m, transport accounted for $50.8m and water and sanitation $14.9m.

“Approximately 48.6 percent of the damage in the infrastructure sector was to private property and the remaining 51.4 percent was to public property. Some 66.8 percent of damage of the infrastructure sector took place on Abaco.

“The losses in the Infrastructure sector were estimated at $197.1m.

Most of the losses were in the power sector (35 percent) followed by telecommunications (27.6 percent). The losses in water and sanitation and transportation were near $19m each.

The public losses in the infrastructure sector were smaller (38.8 percent) than the private sector’s (61.2 percent). Abaco suffered 60 percent of the losses of the infrastructure sector.”

Breaking this down, the IDB/ECLAC report

said: “Total damage in the power sector was estimated at $131.3m, of which the largest line items were $80.4m in damage to the transmission and distribution networks on Abaco and $21m in damage to the flooded power generation plant on Grand Bahama.

“Total losses were estimated at $68.9m reflecting the value of power that was not sold, both because of damage to the transmission and distribution network and because of the reduction in demand for electricity as a result of storm damage. Losses were estimated until December 2021 as recovery is expected to take at least this time or even longer to return to normal levels.

“An estimated loss of $22m was made for the remainder of the year 2019; $40m for the year 2020; and $6.8m for the year 2021.”

Damage to the telecommunications sector was estimated at $42.1m, and the report added: “The losses are estimated at $54.4m, and the most significant losses occurred on Abaco where services could not be provided to end users due to widespread destruction. Loss estimates were projected until December 2021, as recovery is expected to take at least this time or even longer to return to normal levels.

“An estimated loss

of $13.7m was made for the remainder of the year 2019; $16.3m for the year 2020; and $24.4m for the year 2021. Losses were primarily as a result of the absence of commercial power, the extended time needed for network restoration and the loss of clientele.

“On Abaco, where the effects of the hurricane were the hardest, it is expected that there will be a long road to recovery of the services that require a wired telecommunications network infrastructure.”

Turning to the transportation sector, the IDB/ ECLAC report found: “The estimated transportation infrastructure damage is approximately $51m for the whole country. Fiftythree percent of the damage took place on Grand Bahama, where 93 percent was sustained at the Grand Bahama International Airport.

“The losses are estimated considering the decrease in tourism and cargo in both Abaco and Grand Bahama, and its effects on the collection of port charges and services. The estimated economic losses associated with the interruption of transportation services is $37m.

It is estimated that 44 percent of the losses will take place in 2019, 39.2 percent in 2020; and 16.8 percent in 2021.”

PAGE 6, Monday, November 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

ARAWAK CAY PORT

Arawak port beats profit target by 23% FROM PAGE ONE two percent less than the prior year’s actual gross revenue [of $30.913m],” APD revealed. “Net income is projected to be $7.267m or $763,155 less than the 2019 actual net income of $8.030m. Our net income is currently 23 percent or $398,510 over budget as at September 30, 2019.”

The forecast declines in both APD’s top and bottom lines comes despite expectations that container throughput volumes at Arawak Cay will increase by 3,000 or a modest 2.3 percent to 133,000

twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) for the 12 months to end-June 2020.

“Our total revenues as at September 30, 2019, are over budget by approximately $593,527 or eight percent,” the port operator added. “Nassau Container Port’s TEU volumes as at September 30, 2019 are tracking four percent over budget. Total expenses as at September 30, 2019 were over budget by $156,987.

“Operating expenses, including depreciation and amortisation of $20.92m for the period ended June 30, 2019 were $574,328 or three percent lower than our 2019 budgeted

operating expenses of $21.485m.”

APD’s projections come after it exceeded its 2019 full-year profit target by nine percent or $634,355, coming in at $8.03m compared to the forecast $7.396m. The former was some seven percent lower than 2018 figures due to the fall-off in container import volumes as Baha Mar’s construction ceased, together with a decline in storage and reefer fees.

“For the year ended June 30, 2019, NCP had processed 131,734 inbound/outbound TEUs,” APD’s annual report revealed. “This represents a

one percent decline in container volumes under 2018 volumes of 132,692 TEUs. “Our direct operating margin (DOM) for 2019 was 42 percent (2018: 44 percent). Our budgeted direct operating margin for 2019 was 42 percent. For the period ended September 30, 2019, our direct operating margin is 43 percent which is three percent more than our budgeted direct operating margin for the same period.

“Actual TEU volumes for 2019 of 131,734 were over-budget by 1,734 TEUs or one percent compared to our budgeted 2019 volumes

of 130,000 TEUs. Additionally, bulk car volumes of 14,138 were 2,862 or 17 percent less than 2019 budgeted car volumes of 17,000. This resulted in revenues of approximately $3.003m from landing and security fees for vehicles.”

The annual report continued: “Additionally, revenues from storage fees were approximately $137,172 under budget during financial year 2019.

Reefer revenue was under budget by $139,100 during financial year 2019. Total current assets decreased from $23.558m to $20.692m or a decrease of 12 percent.

Cash and cash

equivalents decreased by $2.964m. During the year the spare inventory increased by $7,893. Gross accounts receivable decreased by $76,657 during financial year 2019.

Property plant and equipment of $82.801m as at June 30, 2019, represents port development costs inclusive of works in progress related to the BPL substation and other capital projects.

“Current liabilities decreased by $4.925m from $10.169m to $5.244m. This was largely driven by the current portion of the longterm debt principal which became due at the end of financial year 2019.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, November 18, 2019, PAGE 7

Stocks end week of milestones at new highs; Dow tops 28,000

By ALEX VEIGA Associated Press WALL Street closed out the week with more milestones Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 28,000 for the first time and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs.

Health care and technology stocks powered most of the broad rally, which helped drive the S&P 500 to its sixth straight weekly gain. The Dow extended its streak of weekly gains to four.

Investors have been encouraged by surprisingly good corporate earnings, three interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and data showing the economy is still growing solidly.

Hopes that the US and China can make progress in their latest push for a trade deal have also helped keep investors in a buying mood.

“Over the past week the market absorbed a number of challenging trade headlines, and it didn’t go down,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird.

“It might just be the case that with positive momentum, after not having had a chance to pull the market down, the bulls stepped in again and said: ‘Let’s keep this thing going.’”

The S&P 500 index rose 23.83 points, or 0.8%, to 3,120.46.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 222.93 points, or 0.8%, to 28,004.89. The Nasdaq composite climbed 61.81, or 0.7%, to 8,540.83. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies picked up 7.66 points, or 0.5%, to 1,596.45.

The S&P, Dow and Nasdaq are now all up by more than 20% for the year.

Bond prices fell on Friday, pushing yields higher, a signal that investors were shifting away from safe-play holdings. The yield on the ten-year Treasury rose to 1.84% from 1.81% late on Thursday.

Traders hope the world’s two biggest economies can make a deal before new and more damaging tariffs take effect next month.

Beijing is pressing Washington to roll back tariffs as part of a potential deal that the nations are trying to hammer out.

Investors mostly shrugged off published reports this week suggesting that trade talks have hit a snag. On Friday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox Business that it is likely a trade deal will get done, though he noted that it’s still possible a pact could unravel at the last minute as it did in when both sides got close to a deal in May. A report showing US retail sales rebounded a modest 0.3% in October after falling the previous month also encouraged traders. JC Penney surged after it raised its profit forecast.

Health care stocks led the way higher on Friday, with insurers getting a boost after the Trump administration officially announced a rule that would require hospitals and other providers to make public the rates for drugs, doctor visits and other services. Humana climbed 5.5%, UnitedHealth Group rose 5.3% and Anthem gained 5.6%.

Technology stocks also notched solid gains. Solid

quarterly earnings drove Applied Materials 9% higher, making it the biggest gainer in the S&P 500.

Communication services companies also helped lift the market. Google parent Alphabet rose 1.9%, hitting an all-time high.

The materials sector ended lower, the only one to finish with a tiny loss.

Utilities and makers of household goods posted the smallest gains as investors turned away from less risky, defensive stocks.

Traders bid up shares in several big retailers.

JC Penney climbed 6.4% after the struggling department store chain reported a smaller quarterly loss and raised its annual profit forecast. Under Armour rose 3.9% and Macy’s gained 3.4%.

RH climbed 7.6% and energy company Occidental Petroleum gained 2.9% after Warren Buffett’s company disclosed that it had picked up shares of both companies.

Amarin vaulted 11.8% after a government advisory panel recommended broader use of its fish oilbased heart disease drug Vascepa.

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PAGE 8, Monday, November 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

TWITTER DETAILS POLITICAL AD BAN, ADMITS IT’S IMPERFECT

By BARBARA ORTUTAY Associated Press

TWITTER’S new ban on political ads will cover appeals for votes,

solicitations for campaign contributions and any political content. But the company quickly acknowledged Friday that it expects to make mistakes as

individuals and groups look for loopholes.

Twitter is defining political content to include any ad that references a candidate, political party, government

official, ballot measure, or legislative or judicial outcome. The ban also applies to all ads — even non-political ones — from candidates, political parties and elected or appointed government officials.

However, Twitter is allowing ads related to social causes such as climate change, gun control and abortion. People and groups running such ads won’t be able to target those ads

down to a user’s ZIP code or use political categories such as “conservative” or “liberal”. Rather, targeting must be kept broad, based on a user’s state or province, for instance.

News organisations will be exempt so they can promote stories that cover political issues. While Twitter has issued guidelines for what counts as a news organisation — singleissue advocacy outlets

don’t qualify, for instance — it’s unclear if this will be enough prevent partisan websites from promoting political content.

Twitter announced its worldwide ban on political ads Oct 30, but didn’t release details until Friday.

The policy, which goes into effect next Friday, is in stark contrast to Facebook’s approach of allowing political ads, even if they contain false information.

THE TRIBUNE

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Monday, November 18, 2019, PAGE 9

Business chief concerned about UK parties’ economic policies LONDON Associated Press A SENIOR British business leader has raised concerns about the

economic policies of the two main parties in next month’s election, describing 2020 as the most important year in a generation due to uncertainty over Britain’s departure

from the European Union.

Confederation of British Industry Director-General Carolyn Fairbairn told Sky News yesterday that Labour’s plans will “crack the foundations of our economy”, while the Conservative

Party’s immigration plan risks creating a labor shortage.

Fairbairn expressed concern about Labour’s plans for government ownership of some industries just days after the party pledged to nationalise part of the former

telephone monopoly BT in order to provide free fibre-optic broadband.

She also rejected Conservative immigration plans, saying that targeting only the “brightest and best’’ ignores the fact the UK needs labourers as well as architects.

GN-2332

PAGE 10, Monday, November 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

BOEING SAYS IT HAS TO ‘RE-EARN’ PUBLIC’S TRUST AFTER CRASHES DUBAI Associated Press

A SENIOR Boeing executive said on Saturday the company knows it has to re-earn the public’s trust as it works to win approval from US regulators to get its grounded 737 Max jets flying again after crashes that killed 346 people.

Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said the company’s “number one focus remains safely returning the Max”.

Chicago-based Boeing has spent the past year making changes to flight software that played a role in crashes of two of its 737 Max jets.

Deal said the company

knows it has “to restore the confidence of our customers and the flying public in Boeing”.

“We know we got to reearn that trust,” Deal said.

Deal, whose division oversees the jet, spoke to reporters in Dubai ahead of the biennial Dubai Airshow, which starts Sunday and is expected to produce major deals between

commercial and military manufacturers and Mideast buyers.

Boeing has customers in the region financially impacted by the grounding of the 737 Max, including budget carrier Flydubai, which has more than a dozen of the jets in its fleet and more on order. Boeing is working to compensate both its customers and the

families of victims who died in the crashes.

Internal Boeing documents have revealed that before the crashes company employees had raised concerns about the automated flight-control system that played a part in pushing the planes’ noses down until the jets plummeted, as well as the hectic pace of airplane

production at Boeing.

Boeing began working on updating the plane’s flight software shortly after last year’s Oct 29 crash of a Lion Air jet off the coast of Indonesia. After the second crash — an Ethiopian Airlines Max that went down near Addis Ababa after takeoff on March 10 - the plane was grounded around the world.

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THE TRIBUNE

Monday, November 18, 2019, PAGE 11

Warren pushes back on critics of her health care plan WAVERLY Associated Press ELIZABETH Warren pushed back against critics of her newly released plan to phase in implementation of a single-payer health care system, insisting on Saturday that she is “fully committed” to Medicare for All and that she plans to first build on existing health care programmes because “people need help right now”.

“My commitment to Medicare for All is all the way,” Warren told reporters, responding to critics who’ve questioned the timing behind the release of her implementation plan.

On Friday, the Massachusetts Democrat released a plan outlining how she would transition to a full Medicare for All programme, first by using executive action to bring down drug and health care prices and by pushing Congress to pass a bill giving Americans the option to buy in to an expanded government-run Medicare plan.

Warren says she’ll then work with Congress to pass pieces of a universal coverage proposal more gradually, with the whole thing being ready “no later than” her third year in office.

The transition plan drew criticism from opposing campaigns, with a spokeswoman for Joe Biden accusing Warren of “muddying the waters” on health care and South Bend,

Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign calling it “transparently political”.

Several Democratic candidates, including Biden and Buttigieg, have proposed plans similar to the first phase of Warren’s health care plan, which would allow Americans to buy into a public option. Asked about the difference between her plan and Buttigieg’s, Warren said that “mine is about actually giving people Medicare for All that is going to be full health care coverage,” and outlined ways in which she says her public option would offer more expansive health care coverage than those proposed by Buttigieg or Biden.

Warren also brushed off critics, insisting that she released the plan now because “right now is when it’s ready” and that the details she’s proposed are clear.

“Look, I’ve shown how we can do this without raising middle class taxes by 1 penny. I’ve shown how we can do this to get help immediately for people,” she said. “It’s all laid out, it’s all on the website.”

But the latest rollout has underscored the political challenge she faces on Medicare for All, a policy some of her more centrist opponents have argued would hurt Democrats in the general election by turning off moderates and swing voters worried about too much government involvement in

DEMOCRATIC presidential candidate Sen Elizabeth Warren speaks during a town hall meeting at Grinnell College, in Grinnell, Iowa. Warren pushed back against critics of her newly-released plan to phase in implementation of a single-payer health care system, insisting on Saturday that she is “fully committed” to Medicare for All and that she plans to first build on existing health care programmes because “people need help right now”. personal health care decisions. On Saturday, Warren characterised her plan as in fact allowing Americans to have “health care decisions that are just you and your doctor”, rather than having intermediaries like drug companies involved in the process.

Warren has however faced persistent questions about the implementation of her plan, first on cost and now on timing. This release comes two weeks after she unveiled a much-scrutinised plan to pay for Medicare for All, which proposed raising most of the additional $20.5tn her campaign says would be needed from taxes on businesses, wealthy people and investors — not the middle class. But some experts criticised that proposal for underestimating how much universal health care would really cost.

PAGE 12, Monday, November 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

MARKET REPORT

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www.bisxbahamas.com

(242) 323-2330

FRIDAY, 15 NOVEMBER 2019

(242) 323-2320

ALL SHARE INDEX: CLOSE: 2,209.94 | CHG: 13.13 | %CHG: 0.60 | YTD: 100.49 | YTD%: 4.76 BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.45 22.65 7.00 6.10 2.60 2.00 5.47 11.75 6.17 4.64 11.25 2.81 3.85 10.21 7.60 16.90 9.40 3.63 14.20

52WK LOW 3.52 20.91 4.90 4.46 1.01 0.22 2.00 9.30 6.15 3.95 6.75 2.35 1.76 7.51 6.10 12.10 6.41 3.01 13.01

SECURITY AML Foods Limited APD Limited Bahamas Property Fund Bahamas Waste Bank of Bahamas Benchmark Cable Bahamas CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank Colina Holdings Commonwealth Bank Commonwealth Brewery Consolidated Water BDRs Doctor's Hospital Emera Incorporated Famguard Fidelity Bank Finco Focol J. S. Johnson

SYMBOL AML APD BPF BWL BOB BBL CAB CIB CHL CBL CBB CWCB DHS EMAB FAM FBB FIN FCL JSJ

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

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

CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB

PREFERENCE SHARES

1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00

115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

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

52WK HI 2.27 4.31 2.07 194.86 158.57 1.65 1.82 1.74 1.21 8.01 9.60 6.83 11.39 12.30 10.68 10.00 8.69 11.79

52WK LOW 1.67 3.04 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.58 1.69 1.66 1.09 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

SECURITY Fidelity Bank Note 22 (Series B) +

SYMBOL FBB22

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: 2015-6-5Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-3Y BGS: 2015-10-5Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y

BAH29 BG0203 BG0105 BG0205 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0303 BG0305 BG0307 BG0330 BG0403 BG0405 BG0407

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing)

MUTUAL FUNDS

MARKET TERMS

LAST CLOSE 3.64 17.43 6.00 6.10 2.46 1.80 4.50 11.06 6.16 4.12 8.57 3.18 3.85 9.91 7.51 16.90 9.33 3.20 14.00

CLOSE 3.64 17.43 6.00 6.10 2.46 1.80 4.50 11.06 6.16 4.12 8.57 3.18 3.85 9.93 7.60 16.90 9.33 3.48 14.00

CHANGE 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 0.02 0.09 0.00 0.00 0.28 0.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

LAST SALE 100.00

CLOSE 100.00

CHANGE 0.00

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

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 0.00 0.00

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

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

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00 52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks 52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume Change - Change in closing price from day to day Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings

VOLUME

308

947

2,000 500 10,000 4,100

VOLUME

NAV 2.27 4.30 2.07 193.72 158.42 1.65 1.82 1.74 1.19 8.23 10.10 6.85 11.24 12.28 10.74 9.92 8.68 11.38

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

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

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

P/E 15.2 18.7 N/M 16.5 N/M N/M -10.3 15.3 13.7 22.4 61.2 31.2 8.2 15.4 10.4 20.7 9.9 17.1 22.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

YIELD 4.67% 7.23% 0.00% 4.26% 0.00% 1.11% 0.00% 6.51% 3.57% 2.91% 0.00% 13.65% 1.56% 3.30% 3.16% 3.20% 2.14% 3.45% 4.36% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

INTEREST Prime + 1.75%

MATURITY 19-Oct-2022

6.95% 4.00% 4.25% 4.25% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.00% 4.25% 4.50% 6.25% 3.50% 3.88% 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-2020 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2018 15-Oct-2020 15-Oct-2022

YTD% 12 MTH% 2.77% 3.84% 1.38% 3.46% 2.03% 2.76% 4.99% 6.20% 7.18% -0.08% 2.88% 3.80% 4.56% 6.50% 3.35% 4.17% 5.77% 7.89% 7.17% 8.76% 11.07% 12.58% 3.50% 4.96% 8.92% -0.97% 5.22% 5.44% 2.95% 2.64% -0.71% 0.16% 7.40% 2.70% 10.20% 1.30%

NAV Date 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 27-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Mar-2019 30-Mar-2019 30-Mar-2019

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths NAV - Net Asset Value N/M - Not Meaningful

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

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, November 18, 2019, PAGE 13

Russia providing mood music for House impeachment drama WASHINGTON Associated Press FOR all the talk about Ukraine in the House impeachment inquiry, there’s a character standing just off-stage with a dominant role in this tale of international intrigue: Russia.

As has so often been the case since President Donald Trump took office, Moscow provides the mood music for the unfolding political drama.

“With you, Mr President, all roads lead to Putin,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared last week, and not for the first time.

The impeachment investigation is centered on allegations that Trump tried to pressure Ukraine’s new leader over the summer to dig up dirt on Trump political rival Joe Biden, holding up US military aid to the Eastern European nation as leverage.

In her testimony before the House impeachment panel last week, diplomat Marie Yovanovitch suggested that the president’s actions played into the hands of Vladimir Putin, whose government has backed separatists in a five-year-old war in eastern Ukraine.

Yovanovitch, a 33-year veteran of the State Department known for fighting corruption in Ukraine and elsewhere, was ousted from her position as ambassador to Ukraine after Trump and his allies began attacking her and claimed she was bad-mouthing the president.

Her ouster, she and several Democratic lawmakers

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN argued, ultimately benefitted Putin.

“How is it that foreign corrupt interests can manipulate our government?”

Yovanovitch asked House investigators. “Which country’s interests are served when the very corrupt behaviour we’ve been criticising is allowed to prevail?

Such conduct undermines the US, exposes our friends and widens the playing field for autocrats like President Putin.”

After two days of public testimony and the release of thousands of pages of transcripts from witnesses who’ve met with investigators behind closed doors, Democratic and Republican lawmakers seem further entrenched in their partisan corners about whether the president abused his powers.

Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to do him a “a favour” and investigate Biden and his son Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine. At the same time, Ukraine was awaiting nearly $400m in US military aid.

While Democrats say the request to investigate the Bidens represented a quid pro quo, Trump insists he was within his rights to ask the country to look into corruption. Democrats, trying to make their accusations more understandable, have now settled on framing the president’s actions as a matter of bribery, which, as Pelosi noted, is mentioned in the Constitution.

Hunter Biden served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company at the same time his father was leading the Obama administration’s diplomatic dealings with Kyiv. Though the timing raised concerns among anticorruption advocates, there has been no evidence of wrongdoing by either the former vice president or his son.

Trump has dismissed the impeachment proceedings as a “joke” that deny him and Republican lawmakers due process.

A key ally on Capitol Hill, Rep Devin Nunes, R-Calif, casts the impeachment inquiry as a continuation of the Democrats’ “spectacular implosion of their

Russia hoax”.

“In the blink of an eye, we’re asked to simply forget about Democrats on this committee falsely claiming they had more than circumstantial evidence of collusion between President Trump and Russians,” Nunes said.

Democrats, for their part, are trying to brighten the spotlight on their theory that Trump is doing the bidding of Putin.

Russia, a historic adversary of the United States, has too often emerged as a benefactor of Trump’s actions, says Rep Ted Lieu, a California Democrat.

In his July call with Zelenskiy, Trump pushed discredited information that hackers in Ukraine — rather than Russia — interfered in the 2016 elections.

Last month, Trump abruptly moved US Special Forces from northern Syria at Turkey’s urging and as result created a security vacuum for Russia to fill.

Trump has also repeatedly disparaged and even

suggested withdrawing from NATO, the military alliance that has served as a deterrent to Soviet and Russia aggression since it was formed after World War II. “It’s clear that the Trump administration foreign policy is chaotic and incoherent with one exception: Many of his actions benefit Russia,” Lieu said.

Both in open hearings and closed-door testimony, Democrats have sought to highlight concerns that Trump’s foreign policy frequently benefits Russia.

The concerns about Moscow linger even after special counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election dogged Trump for much of his first term and led to the conviction of five campaign advisers or close associates of the president.

Mueller, a former FBI director, did not clear Trump of wrongdoing when he ended the probe nor did he allege the president committed misconduct.

“If Putin doesn’t have something on him, he’s doing all this for some bizarre reason,” said Rep Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat who sits on the House Intelligence Committee.

In her testimony before impeachment investigators last month, Fiona Hill, until July the Russia analyst on the National Security Council, delivered an impassioned warning that the United States’ faltering resistance to conspiracy theories and corruption represents a self-inflicted crisis and renders the country vulnerable to its enemies.

“The Russians, you know, can’t basically exploit cleavages if there are not cleavages,” she said. “The Russians can’t exploit corruption if there’s not corruption. They can’t exploit alternative narratives if those alternative narratives are not out there and getting credence. What the Russians do is they exploit things that already exist.”

PAGE 14, Monday, November 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

US APPROVES NEW DRUG TO MANAGE SICKLE CELL DISEASE

BY LINDA A JOHNSON Associated Press

US regulators on Friday approved a new medicine that can help reduce extremely painful sickle cell disease flare-ups.

The Food and Drug

Administration approved Novartis AG’s Adakveo for patients 16 and older. The monthly infusion, which halves occurrences of sickle cell pain episodes, will carry a list price of roughly $85,000 to $113,000 per year, depending on dosing.

Insured patients generally will pay less.

Sickle cell disease is one of the most common inherited blood disorders, affecting about 100,000 Americans, most of them black, and about 300 million people worldwide.

Its hallmark is periodic episodes in which red blood cells stick together, blocking blood from reaching organs and small blood vessels. That causes intense pain and cumulative organ damage that shortens the lives of people with the disease.

“The duration and severity of these pain crises worsens with aging. Often patients die during one of these crises,” said Dr Biree

Andemariam, chief medical officer of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.

Andemariam, a former Novartis advisory board member, said the drug appears to work better the longer patients receive it.

The Swiss drugmaker is continuing patient testing to determine whether Adakveo, also known as crizanlizumab, lengthens patients’ lives, said Ameet Mallik, the company’s head of US oncology and blood disorders.

He said severe pain episodes send US patients to emergency departments about 200,000 times per year. About 85% are hospitalised for days to a week,

running up big bills.

The debilitating condition also causes anemia, delayed growth, vision damage and painful swelling in hands and feet, making it hard for some people to maintain jobs or attend school.

Current treatments include a 21-year-old cancer drug called hydroxyurea and Endari, approved in 2017.

In patient studies, Endari reduced frequency of pain episodes about 25% and hydroxyurea reduced them by half. Hydroxyurea can have serious side effects and requires weekly blood tests. Both drugs have complicated dosing and don’t work — or stop working

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— in some patients.

In a one-year study of 198 patients, those getting the higher of two Adakveo doses averaged 1.6 pain episodes over that year and 36% had none. A comparison group on placebo averaged three pain episodes that year and 17% had none. Adakveo’s side effects included influenza and high fever.

Danielle Jamison, of Islandton, South Carolina, has suffered with sickle cell pain episodes since shortly after birth. The 35-year-old previously had a half-dozen pain crises requiring hospital trips each year. Those lessened by about half when she began taking hydroxyurea nine years ago.

She hasn’t been in the hospital since she started taking crizanlizumab two years ago as part of a patient study. She still has mild daily pain, but she said she can now take care of her home and drive her 9-year-old daughter to activities.

“It’s made a huge difference in how much I’m able to do,” Jamison said.

All three drugs work through different mechanisms, so doctors may switch patients to Adakveo or to add it to their current treatment, said Andemariam, head of University of Connecticut’s sickle cell treatment and research program.

Meanwhile, numerous drugs to treat sickle cell disease and gene therapies to possibly cure it are being tested.

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THE TRIBUNE

Monday, November 18, 2019, PAGE 15

Fed finds resilient financial system despite high debt WASHINGTON Associated Press THE Federal Reserve said on Friday that

corporate debt remains at historically high levels but overall the US financial system is resilient, a view in sharp contrast to the

THE FEDERAL Reserve Building in Washington. The Federal Reserve says corporate debt remains at historically high levels but overall the US financial system is resilient, a view in sharp contrast to the problems that led to the 2008 financial crisis. problems that led to the 2008 financial crisis.

In its twice-yearly “Financial Stability Report,” the Fed said that the situation has changed little since its previous report in May. At that time, it highlighted concerns about companies’ high levels of outstanding debt — known as leveraged lending — that grew 20% last year.

Federal Reserve board member Lael Brainard, who chairs the Fed’s financial stability panel, said the current combination of low interest rates and high levels of risky types of corporate debt “merits

heightened vigilance”.

The new report found that borrowing by businesses is at historically high levels relative to the size of the economy, with the most rapid increases in debt concentrated among the riskiest companies with the weakest credit standards.

In contrast, it found that borrowing by households remains at a modest level relative to household incomes, and the amount of debt owed by individual borrowers with credit scores below prime has remained flat this year.

The Fed report found that the largest US banks

remain strongly capitalised.

But it noted that leverage among hedge funds is elevated compared to hedge fund borrowing over the past five years.

The report did include a section on so-called stable coins, a form of cryptocurrency whose value is supposed to be tied to an underlying asset or basket of assets.

It said the possibility of creating a global stable coin network could be a boon to consumers but it also poses a number of risks related to “financial stability, monetary policy, safeguards against money laundering

and terrorist financing and consumer and investor protection”.

The report is the third assessment by the Fed of the stability of the financial system. The first report was issued last year, followed by the May report.

The central bank is issuing the reports as part of the reforms it has implemented to address criticism that bank regulators failed to sound alarms about growing risks to the financial system in advance of the 2008 financial crisis, the worst meltdown of the US financial system since the 1930s and the trigger for a deep recession.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress this week that he believes that overall risks to the financial system remain moderate.

“Debt loads of businesses are historically high, but the ratio of household borrowing to income is low relative to its pre-crisis level and has been gradually declining in recent years,” Powell said in his congressional testimony. “The core of the financial sector appears resilient, with leverage low and funding risk limited relative to the levels of recent decades.”

Analysts at Evercore ISI said that Friday’s report “dials down the degree of concern expressed by the central bank about potential excesses in equity and other asset markets” compared to the May report.

PAGE 16, Monday, November 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

White House urgently ramps up push for drug cost legislation WASHINGTON Associated Press THE White House is ramping up its push to get a bill through Congress that curbs prescription drug costs, feeling a new urgency as the impeachment investigation advances amid the 2020 election campaign.

The effort has progressed beyond anything seen in years, says President Donald Trump’s top domestic policy adviser. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to confront these issues in a nonideological fashion,” adviser Joe Grogan said in a recent session with reporters.

“Unfortunately,” Grogan explained, “there are some current complications.”

After months of dialogue, the White House and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have parted ways on Medicare price negotiations that

PHARMACEUTICALS are seen in North Andover, Mass. Feeling a new urgency as the impeachment probe advances, the White House is ramping up its push to get a bill through Congress that curbs prescription drug costs. President Donald Trump’s top domestic policy adviser says the effort has advanced beyond anything seen in years even as he acknowledges the “current complications”.

Pelosi advocates and Trump — unlike most Republicans — once supported in principle.

Instead Trump is backing a compromise bipartisan bill in the Senate, which

does not give Medicare bargaining authority, but forces drugmakers to pay rebates if they raise prices too high.

Grogan said the administration is working to line up Republican support for

the Senate bill while trying to sweeten its impact by plowing more of the government’s savings from reduced drug prices into benefits for seniors.

“We’re really at a stage on a bipartisan basis of dialing in on the final specifics,” he said at a recent event sponsored by the Alliance for Health Policy.

The pressure is on Trump.

A Gallup-West Health poll finds that 66 percent of adults don’t believe the Trump administration has made any progress, or very much progress, in limiting the rising cost of prescription drugs.

“If I were the president of the United States, facing a very difficult reelection campaign, I would want to have something to show people in this area,” said political scientist Bill Galston of the Brookings Institution.

Democrats “will be very

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reluctant to give the administration a win,” he added.

“If they are going to do that, they are going to need something pretty solid and substantive to show their troops.”

People in the policy debate say a deal must be sealed this year or by early next at the very latest, before election season goes into overdrive.

Medicare enrollees would be the biggest winners under either bill.

The bipartisan Senate legislation would cap what Medicare beneficiaries pay out of pocket for medicines and require drugmakers to pay rebates to Medicare if they hike prices above the inflation rate. Its lead authors are Sens Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore. But Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, has made no public commitment to bring it to the floor.

The more ambitious House Democratic bill would build on the Senate’s foundation but also authorise Medicare to negotiate prices for the costliest drugs. That would limit high launch prices for new drugs, not just price increases.

Medicare’s discounts would be provided to privately insured people as well.

Pelosi is driving toward a floor vote, but right now neither bill has a clear path to Trump’s desk.

Some Democrats contend they’d be better off taking Pelosi’s bill into the election campaign rather than giving Trump a bipartisan bill he’d claim credit for.

But Colorado Sen Michael Bennet, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, says his party should think carefully before going to the voters empty-handed.

“I think it’s critically important for the country

for us to get a bill done — a drug-pricing bill is long overdue,” said Bennet.

“It’s always better to get a result,” he added. “And if we don’t get a result, we need to draw the lines very clearly, so people can see it’s the administration that prevented us from getting a result.”

Bennet is backing the Senate compromise and also pursuing his own legislation allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

Most pro-business Republicans see government-negotiated drug prices as unacceptable interference in the private market.

But not Trump.

In 2016, he campaigned on giving Medicare the power to negotiate. Pelosi’s bill is a not-so-gentle reminder to Trump the 2020 candidate of his politically popular 2016 promise.

“House Democrats are taking the bold action to negotiate lower drug prices that President Trump always claimed was necessary and working people won’t like it if he sells them out on one of the most important kitchen table issues in America right now,” said Pelosi spokesman Henry Connelly.

With weeks until the end of the year, impeachment is draining the political energy in Washington. If nothing happens, the clearest winner will be the drug industry lobby, which has poured millions of dollars into a fight seen as an existential threat to its political influence.

“We think it’s going to be very hard,” said Frederic Isasi, executive director of Families USA, a liberal advocacy group calling for action this year. “It would be completely short-sighted for people not to deliver what can be done now for American families.”

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