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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2018

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GARFIELD SINCLAIR

BTC hits ‘red line’ on client, value erosion By NATARIO MCKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) chief executive says the company has reached “the red line” on mobile subscriber loss and value, and is readying the fight back. Garfield “Garry” Sinclair told Tribune Business that BTC must “reorient” itself and its two trade unions to be more “customer centric” as it prepares to roll-out some “very compelling” consumer value propositions (CVPs). “One of the sort of commercial muscles that have sort of atrophied when we were the sole provider, particularly of mobile services, is customer centricity. You have to be customer centric in an intensely competitive environment. The first thing we have to do is reorient everyone in the business, including my union partners,” he said. “My union partners are clearly focused on their colleagues, and I have made it clear that my job is taking care of my colleagues. As a commercial imperative, the first line of business is taking care of customers. Customers have to be at the centre of what we do, and so we have to reorient the business to do that. “We have to put the customer first, and that is what I am trying to inculcate back into our DNA. That extends now to developing customer value propositions. We have to ask them what they want and then develop customer value propositions accordingly.” BTC’s subscriber numbers at September 30, 2018, support claims by rival Aliv to have seized more than one-third of all Bahamian mobile market subscribers. BTC was shown to have 228,300 total subscribers at that date, with 89 percent of 203,000 of that client base concentrated in pre-paid customers.

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BTC’s privatisation ‘a colossal failure’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

HE Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) privatisation “has been a colossal failure”, a union leader blasted yesterday, adding: “Aliv’s eating our lunch with ease.” Dino Rolle, the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union’s (BCPOU) president, told Tribune Business that all BTC staff - not just his members - viewed as “extremely offensive” warnings by the company’s chief executive that unproductive employees should be “anxious” over their job security. The line staff union’s chief argued that Garfield “Garry” Sinclair lacked sufficient evidence to judge which BTC employees were failing to add value because the carrier had lacked performance management metrics “for the last three to four years” prior to the recent introduction of its Pearl system. Mr Rolle, who yesterday

UNIONISED employees were yesterday placed on “work to rule” at most of Nassau’s major resorts in a move likely to raise fears for this week’s key Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Darrin Woods, pictured, the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) president, told Tribune Business that the move was sparked by Atlantis’ decision to implement a new shift system impacting some 400500 housekeeping staff as well as a “12-point” disciplinary system. Arguing that negotiations with the Paradise Island resort had proven fruitless, despite the union engaging in talks since late September, Mr Woods said it had decided to take a stand due to concerns that other hotel properties are likely to

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* Move results from Atlantis dispute * Shift, discipline ‘points’ to affect 500 staff * Will impact multiple Nassau resorts

ATLANTIS PARADISE ISLAND follow Atlantis’ lead. He charged that Atlantis’ move also breached the industrial agreement that the union and the Bahamas Hotel and Restaurant Employers Association (BHREA), the hotel industry’s bargaining group, are treating as still in effect despite expiring in 2013.

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Mr Woods described the situation as an ominous indication of the approach the BHREA may take over negotiating a new deal, adding that the union could no longer hold back members who had wanted to take action industrial action from early September. The “work to rule”, which means hotel union members will stick rigidly to their job descriptions and “not go beyond the call of duty, extends beyond Atlantis to all BHREA member properties. These include the Four Seasons Ocean Club; the British Colonial Hilton; Melia Nassau Beach; and Lyford Cay Club, although Baha Mar will not be impacted

and Mr Rolle said this had resulted in a constantlychanging strategy just when it needed continuity/stability to ready for competition and the loss of its mobile monopoly. Disclosing that Mr Sinclair had made no secret of his intentions to “cut dead wood” and “share the costs” of BTC’s call centre with other such CWC facilities in the Caribbean, the BCPOU chief argued that meetings with the new chief executive had “not been productive”. The union, given that its industrial agreement expired 20 months ago, wants Mr Sinclair to “bring to the table” a realistic proposal for a new deal something it says he has yet to do. And Mr Rolle argued that, rather than reverse top-line decline, Mr Sinclair

Winter tourism fears on union ‘work-to-rule’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Dingman hit by $863k award on eatery collapse A LYFORD CAY resident’s former business partners have obtained a collective $863,000 default judgment against him over the collapse of his Nassau restaurant empire. Judge Naomi Buchwald, sitting in the south New York federal court, entered the award against Jamie Dingman, son of late world-famous entrepreneur, Michael, after he stopped defending the fraud and breach of contract claim brought by Erik Gordon and Ryan Giunta. Gordon was awarded $492,064, some $392,000 of which is pre-judgment interest, while Giunta obtained $370,727 - a sum that was also inflated by interest. The duo now have the task of enforcing the ruling against Mr Dingman, which means they may have to seek recognition of the judgment in The Bahamas by the Supreme Court. Judge Buchwald ruled that the duo had “plausibly alleged that Dingman, acting both on his own behalf” and his failed Nassau restaurants, “has defrauded them and breached certain agreements with them”. While agreeing that Gordon and Giunta were entitled to a default judgment because Mr Dingman had stopped defending the case, despite being served with all necessary court papers, the judge trimmed the duo’s damages claim after finding they were “entitled to less than all of the relief sought in their papers”. Judge Buchwald found Gordon was seeking to recover the same loss through “four distinct legal theories”, when only one would do. And Giunta failed to notify Mr Dingman of his $2,500 claim for “unreimbursed expenses”, resulting in that being thrown out. Their bid to obtain legal costs from Mr Dingman was also denied. Mr Dingman’s efforts to build a Nassau-based restaurant and hospitality business through his Out West Hospitality vehicle included taking over Traveller’s Rest in western New Providence via a lease arrangement. That venture failed and the property shut again, until members of the Bain family, its owners, reopened it again. He also leased two units

* Union chief: Aliv’s ‘eating our lunch’ * CEO’s productivity warning ‘extremely offensive’ * Claims no system to measure employee value

FROM left: Dino Rolle, BCPOU president; Philip “Brave” Davis; and Ricardo Thompson, BCPMU president. received backing “shrunk not only the workfrom Bernard Evans, his force but BTC’s ability to predecessor as BCPOU compete” with upstart rival president, blamed BTC’s Aliv, which has already plight on Cable & Wireless seized more than one-third Communications (CWC) mobile market share in just failure to properly prepare two years since its Novemthe incumbent carrier for ber 2016 launch. competition and find new BTC and CWC are now growth opportunities since both on their fourth chief acquiring a controlling executive since the former’s interest in the company privatisation, with the latter via its 2011 privatisation. now owned by Liberty He added that CWC had Latin America (LiLAC),

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Auto industry wants ‘more horses in race’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE auto industry has held talks with the Government about adjusting the 25 percent duty threshold to enable more dealers to have “a horse in the race”, it was revealed yesterday. Fred Albury, the Bahamas Motor Dealers Association’s (BMDA) president, told Tribune Business that the industry was hoping the Minnis administration will amend the 1.5cc engine size threshold to allow more vehicle models to qualify for the lower excise tax rate - a move it believes will benefit consumers as much as the sector. He added that the industry was looking for the changes to be introduced in either February’s mid-year budget or the 2019-2020 budget that must be

* Presses govt on expanding 25% duty category * Hopes for further change in mid-year, next budget * Consumers enjoying $10,000 slash in price unveiled by end-May, with the reduction from the typical 65 percent tax rate slashing as much as $10,000 off new vehicle prices. Confirming that dealers with vehicle models of 1.5cc or less had already been reaping the benefits, Mr Albury told this newspaper: “For those who have product at 1.5 litres, yes, we’ve experienced a boost, but there are those dealers that have none and they’re experiencing misery. “There has been some consultation with the powers that be to consider some adjustment or another category of vehicles. We’re requesting that there be some adjustment. A lot of dealers have vehicles with

1.6 litre engine capacity, so either bump it up a little bit or create another category for 1.5cc to 2cc vehicles with some adjustment there. “That way all the dealers have a horse in the race, and consumers would have a lot more choice. It would enhance new car sales and the Government would realise more revenue from the industry. Whether it’s the mid-year budget or fullyear budget I don’t know. It’s up to them.” Mr Albury said the Government had indicated it wanted to see the full impact of the 2018-2019 budget reforms take effect first before making any further adjustments. These moves, which took effect

from July 1, cut the excise tax rate for vehicles with engines below 1.5cc to just 25 percent, compared to the previous 65 percent. The cut was enacted to make new, smaller and more fuel efficient and environmentally-friendly vehicles more affordable for Bahamian consumers, and Mr Albury said the early signs were encouraging - but only for dealers with product at or below the 1.5cc threshold. “We’re only three to four months on,” the BMDA chief added, “but I can say that it did give a boost to sales for those with product at 1.5 litres, but it has

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PAGE 2, Tuesday, November 20, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, November 20, 2018, PAGE 3

FLIGHT SERVICES COMES ALIVE WITH $200,000 DEAL By NATARIO MCKENZIE

with Aliv providing NFS personnel “the most affordable services and best quality devices we have to offer”. He added: “As with all partnerships with Aliv it will certainly be different. Aliv is more than a telecommunications company. The goal is to provide innovative and superior services in several ways. “Not only will NFS benefit from beautiful new handsets and smart phones on the country’s fastest network, and especially in the airport where

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net ALIV and Nassau Flight Services (NFS) yesterday announced a four-year partnership that will give the airport ground services provider upgraded communications services. Damian Blackburn, pictured, Aliv’s chief executive, said the agreement represented yet “another progressive and promising partnership opportunity”,

we have invested a lot of money to make the airport sing. We will also be supplying NFS, as they request them from us, partnership opportunities in the sales and marketing are,a and to support the growth, development and sustainability of its fantastic VIP fast-track services. “NFS has shown huge confidence in our pushto-talk service, which will permit NFS team members to communicate with each other with a radio-styled device just with the push of

a button.” Selected members of the NFS team will also wear Aliv and NFSbranded attire. Mr Blackburn added that the partnership agreement was worth around $200,000, but said: “It’s more than the money really. We have committed to help the team at NFS get the best out of communications.” NFS’s general manager, Ricardo Rolle, said: “At NFS communication is very important. We communicate with the aircraft on the way in, and our communication

is on the ground, constantly moving bags in and out of the terminal. “We also have the passenger services side where we do the ticketing and checkin of passengers and, in that, communication is important as we move passengers from the front to the back at the gate. Newly-added to this line is the fact that we are now able to communicate directly with Exuma and San Salvador. That is an added feature, and we can now communicate with them directly.”

BISX offers platform BAHAMAS EYES EUROPE for $35.5m in trades THROUGH TRAVEL MARKET THE collective value of BISX-listed equities fell by 4.82 percent during the nine months to end-September 2018, producing a similar decline to that witnessed on major global stock markets. The Bahamas International Securities Exchange’s (BISX) All-Share Index, which only measures share price movements among its 19 listed stocks, and does not take into account dividend payments, fell at an accelerated pace compared to the prior year period. The exchange’s own data, published yesterday, revealed that the All-Share Index declined by 3.73 percent or 72.33 during the nine months to end-September 2017 as opposed to the 4.82 percent or 99.53 fall experienced this year. BISX, though, remains a $5bn capital market. Besides the collective $4.144bn market capitalisation of its listed equities stocks, the exchange is also home to 13 preference share issues worth $327 and 19 bonds with a “face value” of $579m. “Over the three-year period 2016 to 2018, the market value of all securities listed on BISX has shown a decrease from 2016 to 2017, and an increase from 2017 to 2018,” BISX said. The 4.82 percent

All-Share Index declined mirrored the 1.8 percent and 10.38 percent falls endured by London’s FTSE 100 and the MSCI Emerging Market Index, respectively, during the first nine months of 2018. Despite the decline, BISX was used a platform to conduct $35.481m worth of trading during that period. The bulk of trading activity, involving 1,011 out of 1,084 transactions, involved shares in the exchange’s 19 listed stocks. Some 7,156,319 shares, worth a total $28.344m, changed hands during the first nine months of 2018. The remaining activity was led by 43 preference share trades, covering 49,351 securities, which was worth a collective $1.539m. Some 5,498 government bonds worth a total $5.498m changed hands in 27 trades on the secondary market, while there were three trades involving $100,00 in corporate bonds. BISX’s data showed that while equity trading volumes had increased in 2018, the value of the shares involved had fallen year-over-year. “Trading volume for the nine-month period January 2, 2018, to September 28, 2018, was 7,211,268 shares for a value of $35.481m,” the exchange said. “By comparison, trading

volume for the nine-month period January 1, 2017, to September 29, 2017, was 3,414,260 shares for a value of $36.445m.” Turning to the third quarter alone, BISX added: “Trading volume for the three-month period July 1, 2018, to September 28, 2018, was 3,343,087 shares for a value of $13.346m. By comparison, trading volume for the three-month period July 1, 2017, to September 29, 2017, was 1,063,957 shares for a value of $20.708m.” Breaking trading activity down by month, BISX added: “For the nine-month period from January 2, 2018, to September 28, 2018, the average volume per trading day was 38,501 shares for a value of $188,800.91. “By comparison, for the nine-month period from January 1, 2017, to September 29, 2017, the average volume per trading day was 17,811 shares for an average value of $193,974.17.” Commonwealth Bank was the most popular BISX-listed stock in terms of both volume and value of shares traded for the nine months to end-September, accounting for 36.3 percent and 30.8 percent of each activity, respectively. AML Foods and FOCOL Holdings took second and third spots on both indicators.

GROUP WITH BAHAMAS TIES GROWS IN CAYMAN SMP Partners, which has a Bahamian subsidiary, yesterday announced it has expanded its Cayman Islands presence with the acquisition of Solaris Corporate Services. Steve McGowan, SMP Partners’ group chairman, said in a statement: “This acquisition further consolidates our position in Grand Cayman following the acquisitions of the trust, corporate, custody and fund administration business from Royal Bank of Canada, and the trust and corporate book of business from Cayman National last year.” Solaris was previously the corporate services affiliate of Solomon Harris, a Cayman legal firm that has recently merged with international firm, Bedell Cristin.

Stephen Turner, SMP Partners chief executive for the Caribbean region, said: “We have been administering this book of business since September 1, 2018, and will work closely with Solomon Harris and their new colleagues within Bedell Cristin to ensure a smooth transition of the book of business over to SMP. “Solaris will operate as a subsidiary of SMP Partners (Cayman) with its own dedicated team to ensure its clients continue to receive a professional and responsive service, and Solomon Harris will continue to act as legal advisers for those clients.” Mr Turner added: “This agreement is an opportunity to grow our Cayman corporate administration operation, further

enhancing the breadth of services and opportunities for our clients and staff. We see great opportunity for the further growth of our group, both here in Grand Cayman and in The Bahamas, and will continue to look for similar acquisition opportunities with likeminded businesses.” The SMP Partners Group employs more than 200 staff, and is headquartered in the Isle of Man. It provides trust, custody, fund, corporate administration and accounting services with offices in the Isle of Man, Cayman, The Bahamas, Jersey, Hong Kong, Malta and Switzerland. The transaction has already been approved by Cayman regulators and closed on November 8, 2018. The financial terms were not disclosed.

THE BAHAMAS was heavily promoted at this year’s World Travel Market show, which is held every year at ExCel in east London. Top executives from the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation attended the event along with 24 tourism stakeholders from Nassau, Eleuthera/Harbour Island and Exuma. Joy Jibrilu, the Ministry of Tourism’s director-general, Ellison “Tommy” Thompson, deputy directorgeneral, and other executives participated in multiple highlevel meetings and workshops with airline partners, travel agents, tour operators and media to promote the ease of travelling to The Bahamas and the increased number of attractions offered by this destination. London taxis were wrapped with The Bahamas’ advertisement during the event in a bid to keep the destination in the minds of potential travellers. Ms Jibrilu said The Bahamas’ participation in World Travel Market is designed to increase visitor traffic from Europe. “The European traveller is the traveller that every destination wants. They are the travellers who don’t just come for a week. They stay for months and they travel throughout our destination looking for memorable experiences. And so we are competing heavily with the world for their business,” she said. “Tourism is the cornerstone of our economy, and we have to cement our position as a leader in tourism and display that to economies like Latin America, the Middle East and Europe.” World Travel Market London, according to its website, is the leading global event for the travel industry to meet fellow professionals and conduct business deals. Through its industry networks and global

HIGHLIGHTS from The Bahamas at the World Travel Market show.

reach, World Travel Market London creates personal and business opportunities, providing customers with quality contacts, content

and communities. The event boasted exhibitors from 183 countries, and more than 75,500 trade visitors.

PAGE 4, Tuesday, November 20, 2018

BTC’s privatisation ‘a colossal failure’ FROM PAGE ONE has to-date followed the same cost-cutting strategy that CWC has pursued since privatisation, which is “not what BTC needs”. While Bahamian mobile consumers will likely argue that BTC’s privatisation, which paved the way for mobile market liberalisation, and reduced prices, increased choice and improved services, has been beneficial, current and former employees of the former state-owned carrier may well have a different perspective. “This has been a colossal failure,” Mr Rolle told Tribune Business of BTC’s 2011 privatisation. “The company has not grown since then. We’ve seen this company shrink, not only in workforce size but its ability to compete. “When CWC came in there was no serious injection of capital into infrastructure. Had they been doing that while we were anticipating liberalisation of the market, we would be on a better footing to compete. With little effort Aliv is eating our lunch. We’ve been struggling with that.” BTC’s subscriber numbers at September 30, 2018, support Aliv’s claim to have seized more than one-third of all Bahamian mobile market subscribers. BTC was shown to have 228,300 total subscribers at that date, with 89 percent of 203,000 of that client base concentrated in pre-paid customers. Damian Blackburn, Aliv’s top executive, pegged its subscriber base at 125,000 which, when combined with BTC’s numbers, gives The Bahamas’ second mobile operator a 35.4 percent market share - placing it on track to hit its target of 39 percent share by end-June 2019. BTC’s once-lucrative mobile monopoly generated

almost three-quarters of its annul revenues, along with the bulk of its profits, and it has been unable to make inroads into Cable Bahamas’ TV and Internet dominance to compensate for the market share loss to Aliv. This is in spite of the build-out of BTC’s Fibreto-the-Home (FTTH) network infrastructure, which passed 128,900 Bahamian homes at September 30 and is designed to deliver TV/video and broadband Internet services. To-date, this has translated into just 80,200 customers or RGUs outside of BTC’s mobile client base. It is said to have 6,800 TV/video and 26,400 Internet customers, plus a further 47,000 fixed-line voice subscribers. “CWC has taken the approach to run certain projects from Miami, for the most part, to the exclusion of local employees,” Mr Rolle complained yesterday. He identified the FTTH roll-out as one such project, adding that this took too long along with the “ill-advised approach” to it. Repeating calls that BTC needs “a full-time chief executive”, given Mr Sinclair’s responsibilities across CWC’s Caribbean network, the BCPOU chief said the rapid turnover of chief executives - from Geoff Houston to Leon Williams, Dexter Cartwright and now the latest incumbent - had disrupted continuity just when BTC needed it most. “The quick turnover has certainly impacted the growth of the company,” Mr Rolle told Tribune Business. “It appears that every time a new chief executive, management team comes in, they come in with a different agenda. “We’ve seen them change programmes, take out stuff the previous chief executive invested in, and there doesn’t seem to be cohesion from one team to the next.

There seems to be a new strategy, recalibration when a new chief executive comes in, and that’s really negatively impacted the growth of BTC.” Mr Rolle said Mr Sinclair’s warning to unproductive BTC employees came as little surprise to the union, given that he had made similar indications in meetings with it, but he questioned how the chief executive was able to judge who is underperforming. “The BCPOU and, as a matter of fact, all the employees of BTC find Mr Sinclair’s comments extremely offensive,” he blasted, “coming from a chief executive who made the same remarks two weeks into his job in The Bahamas. “He said to the unions that BTC has some dead wood that he intends to get rid of. It was his first or second meeting with us. All this came in the face of the company having no performance management tool for the last three to four years.” Mr Rolle said the previous performance management system had been “discarded in anticipation” of it being replaced with CWC’s own Pearl system, but this had only been installed months before Mr Sinclair’s arrival as BTC chief executive. “The current tool has not been up and running sufficiently for Mr Sinclair to make that determination [on who is unproductive],” he argued. “We find Mr Sinclair’s statements very offensive, and say to him that he is not in position to make that kind of determination. You don’t have that right.” Concerns over the outsourcing of BTC’s call centre, and its 50-670 jobs, to other countries in the CWC network were among the issues that sparked last week’s demonstration outside the carrier’s head office. Mr Rolle said Mr Sinclair had “made certain

remarks about sharing costs of the call centre across the region”, sparking union and employee alarm - especially since the BCPOU believes the 2011 privatisation agreement prevents such outsourcing. “We advised Mr Sinclair to go back to his employer and familiarise himself with the agreement they signed,” he added. “Calls that should have been directed through our call centre are already being responded to and answered in other parts of the region. “The staff are completely demoralised. After the last chief executive, Mr Cartwright, we were looking for a new, fresh energy that Mr Sinclair would bring; a new set of ideas to get the business moving and put us on a footing to compete with Aliv. “Mr Sinclair, it seems, came with no new vision. Nothing to expand the topline. His focus is on chipping away at expenses, which is not what BTC needs right now. BTC has been going through that since privatisation. His first order of business was to go to the bottom line.” BTC’s chief executive and its line staff union appear to have different priorities, with the former focused on transforming the company and the latter seeking a new industrial agreement to replace the expired deal. “Mr Sinclair likes to talk about how he met with us on several occasions,” Mr Rolle told Tribune Business. “Yes, we met, but those meetings were not productive. We’re looking for Mr Sinclair to bring something to the table, and he has yet to bring anything sensible to the table that we can discuss. “That’s what we want. Let us get over this hurdle so we can focus on what’s best for our customers. A lot of them do not want to go over to Aliv. We need to bring something to the table

that satisfies our customers, rather than be insulted by Mr Sinclair saying some of us are dead wood. We find that counter-productive to the argument.” Mr Rolle and the BCPOU received backing from their fellow BTC union yesterday. Ricardo Thompson, president of the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU), which represents BTC’s middle managers, said: “BTC has not had a functioning performance management system for over two years. “So, I’m curious as to how the chief executive is establishing a ‘baseline’ to measure and determine who are the productive employees. There is no objective metric in the company for doing so. This statement by the BTC chief executive underscores our concerns about the subjectivity and victimisation that our members endure daily at this ‘new’ BTC.” Mr Thompson’s comments came as he and Mr Rolle met with Opposition leader, Philip Davis, to seek his and the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) support as tensions rise at BTC. The Opposition will also likely use the situation to gain political capital, given that the Government retains a substantial 49 percent stake - and three Board seats - at BTC. Mr Evans, the former BCPOU president, who now heads the National Congress of Trade Unions (NCTU), also expressed concern about Mr Sinclair’s ability to measure and determine employee productivity. He told Tribune Business that during his nine years as BCPOU head, “more than 99.9 percent of staff” met or exceeded their personal targets and earned the necessary “increments”. And he suggested that 40 percent of employees performed well enough to earn annual bonuses.

Auto industry wants ‘more horses in race’ FROM PAGE ONE considerably impacted dealers with nothing in that range. “At Executive Motors we have a small new SUV called The Rush below that threshold. It arrived right after the change, and gave us a boost to the extent that we pre-sold on every shipment coming in. “If that is something to measure things by it has had a tremendous impact. The consumers have embraced it and moved forward with it. But there are dealers with 1.6cc engines that are just as efficient but suffering badly. I’d like to see everyone have a horse in the race to keep the doors open.” Rick Lowe, Nassau Motor Company’s (NMC) director/operations manager, told Tribune Business it was anticipating a New Year boost once inventory

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with engine sizes below 1.5cc started to arrive on New Providence in earnest. He added that the Excise Tax rate cut from 65 percent to 25 percent represented as much as a $10,000 saving per vehicle for consumers. “Had we known [of the budget changes] we could have pre-ordered and have stuff here and available,” he said. “Now the factories are changing over so new inventory will not start to come until January and February. “We’ve got one or two models coming in, and are very happy because we have probably more vehicles than anybody else in that 1.5cc range. We have quite a selection, and in most instances there’s a $10,000 difference in price. We’re kind of looking forward to it. I don’t think the other retailers have as many models as we do in that 1.5cc range.”

New auto industry sales, though, have remained relatively flat with 2017 comparisons during the 2018 second and third quarters. Mr Albury said July had been “a horrible month” for sales, but the sector “bounced back” in August while September and October were “OK”. He said that while his BMW business had also benefited from the taxation rate cut, there were other dealers - Bahamas Bus and Truck, Friendly Ford, Tyreflex and Sanpin Motors - that currently have nothing that benefits from the 25 percent duty rate. “Hopefully something can be done for 1.5-2 litres that helps and encourages people to get fuel efficient vehicles,” Mr Albury added. “1.5cc is encouraging, but it would be even more encouraging to keep the dealers profitable out there.”

THE TRIBUNE

Winter tourism fears on union ‘work-to-rule’ FROM PAGE ONE

because it is non-unionised. The BHCAWU’s move will, though, likely heighten concerns that the Nassau hotel sector, which is the island’s leading industry and private sector employer, could be disrupted by industrial action right at the start of the peak winter season whose opening is marked by this week’s Thanksgiving holiday. Mr Woods, though, said the union had done everything it could to avoid such a scenario, but could “stand by” no longer given the potential impact on its members. “We put our members at Atlantis and all those covered by the Bahamas Hotel and Restaurant Employers Association on work to rule,” Mr Woods confirmed to Tribune Business. “It has to do with them [Atlantis] going ahead to make the housekeepers shift workers when they’ve never worked shifts before.” Disclosing that as many as 400-500 workers may be impacted by a shift system that is due to start on December 3, the hotel union chief said the other concern related to “the 12-point” disciplinary system that Atlantis has now introduced. Mr Woods said this threatened to “give new life to breaches” that usually “fall away after a certain period of time”, as Atlantis will be assessing a certain number of points for infractions such as arriving late to work, thereby “holding them for longer than they should”. Ed Fields, Atlantis’ spokesperson, could not be contacted for comment before press time last night. Mr Woods, though, said of the resort: “They’re changing some of the things people are used to doing. “I can tell you they [BHCAWU members] gave us a mandate from September 27. Overwhelmingly the majority of persons in the room wanted to take action. We’ve tried to negotiate between us and come to a resolution. The management stuck to their guns and said this is what they’re going to do. We’ve been in touch with them from September 20 to last week Thursday.” Mr Woods said the “work to rule” meant that union members will do no more than their job description requires, meaning that if a resort property is shortstaffed on a particular shift due to sickness and other reasons for absence, “that’s on you and I’m going home when finished”. Revealing that he was concerned about potential wider ramifications, given that the sector has no current industrial agreement, the BHCAWU chief said: “The reason why we’re doing it is the president of the BHREA [Russell Miller] works at Atlantis, so whatever Atlantis gets away with the rest will surely follow. “This also says to us that if you’re going to take this kind of position on things like that: Take what we want, the attitude will be the same in industrial agreement negotiations. That’s why we’ve involved the members now so they understand the methods we’ve tried, and are not going to stand for it any more.” Mr Woods said the union was supposed to meet Atlantis management to continue talks last week, only for the resort to send a letter saying it was “moving ahead” as planned. As for the potential for winter tourism’s disruption as a result of industrial action, he told Tribune Business: “You can’t blame the union because we’ve done all we can do. We’ve done our best. “Our members have been urging us to do something long time. We said we should be able to overcome this by dialogue. We’ve asked them for information showing the need to implement this shift and policy. We’ve asked them from day one. They’ve asked us to accept what they’re saying.”

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, November 20, 2018, PAGE 5

BTC hits ‘red line’ on client, value erosion

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

he Ranfurly Homes for Children has been a safe haven for thousands of Bahamian children since 1956. The Home provides a safe, structured environment for children who have been orphaned, abused, neglected or abandoned.

BTC HQ

FROM PAGE ONE

Damian Blackburn, Aliv’s top executive, pegged its subscriber base at 125,000 which, when combined with BTC’s numbers, gives The Bahamas’ second mobile operator a 35.4 percent market share - placing it on track to hit its target of 39 percent share by endJune 2019. BTC’s once-lucrative mobile monopoly generated almost three-quarters of its annul revenues, along with the bulk of its profits, and it has been unable to make inroads into Cable Bahamas’ TV and Internet dominance to compensate for the market share loss to Aliv. Liberty Latin America (LiLAC), BTC’s ultimate parent, recently expressed hope that its mobile subscriber loss “will bottom out in 2019” after another 12,400 customers exited in this year’s third quarter. Balan Nair, Liberty Latin America’s (LiLAC) chief executive, told financial analysts that while this point was getting “closer and closer”, BTC was “not there yet” in terms of stemming the bleeding of subscribers to Aliv. He, though, downplayed the continued erosion of BTC’s mobile market share as “natural” for a newly-liberalised market such as The Bahamas where the former state-owned incumbent

had enjoyed a 16-year monopoly. Mr Sinclair told Tribune Business: “We are about to launch some very compelling fixed and mobile CVPs, and we have adjusted the way of promoting them as well, which I think will resonate with customers. We have gone out there and listened to customers and began inculcating our new customer centric culture in the business.” He added: “While we are market leaders in fixed-voice, that’s a structurally declining business. That business is heading south. The younger crowd wants mobility. In fixed broadband, we are only at 30 percent market share there, so we never competed very well. “On the television side, that is being disrupted by over the top providers, NETFLIX and consumers watching on demand, and even there we only had ten percent of the share. That’s a part of the adjustment we need to make. “On the mobile side we had 100 percent of the market and, in fairness, there was nowhere to go but down. We need to draw a red line in the sand. We have about reached that red line; not just on subscriber numbers but on value as well. We’re going to hold the line there. We want to hang on to customers we want to hang on to, and get back customers into the fold.”

DINGMAN HIT BY $863K AWARD ON EATERY COLLAPSE FROM PAGE ONE in the Klonaris brothers’ Elizabeth on Bay plaza on Bay Street for two other restaurant formats, both of which have also closed. Tribune Business also revealed how Mr Dingman leased the Beach Club Cafe from Sandyport’s developers, viewing this as his “signature property”. The venture never opened, and the lease was pulled. The initial action against Mr Dingman included numerous Bahamian plaintiffs, such as the well-known Wulff Road-based building materials suppliers, FYP and Tile King, the People First (Bahamas) employment agency, IDNet, and Young Digerati (YNG). Individual Bahamians also suing Mr Dingman included Jason Rolle, his former general manager, who claimed to be owed $46,113 in unpaid salary and benefits, plus Tyrone

Adderley, a contractor seeking more than $2,000 for work on the Beach Club Cafe at Sandyport. However, all the Bahamian plaintiffs “voluntarily” withdrew their claims for thousands of dollars in damages against Mr Dingman, leaving the action to Messrs Gordon and Giunta. Their action was likely due to Mr Dingman’s efforts to dismiss the case on jurisdictional grounds, with the argument that the Bahamas was the proper forum to hear the matter. Messrs Gordon and Giunta had alleged that Mr Dingman breached agreements to provide them with an equity interest in Out West Hospitality, the holding company for the venture, which fell apart and collapsed in 2014. Gordon, in particular, alleged he paid $250,000 he paid to Mr Dingman in exchange for a 50 percent equity stake in Out West Hospitality.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that SOHAIL ANJUM, of #39 South Beach, 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 twenty-eight days from the 13th day of November, 2018 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Povidence, The Bahamas.

YOU can make a difference in the lives of the children at Ranfurly. With your support children can have nutritious food, warm beds and a safe environment where they can discover the joy of being children. For years the children living and learning at Ranfurly have made great social and academic strides. 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.

MEMBERSHIP PACKAGES Individuals, Families & Corporate Sponsors Children Helping Children - $5 (Individual children from ages 6 - 18) Individuals Helping Children - $50 (Individual adults 18 years and over) Families Helping Children - $100

CIRCLE of FRIENDS Silver: $1,500 - $2,499 Gold: $2,500 - $4,999 Platinum: $5,000 plus

OPPORTUNITIES • • • •

Invitations to Ranfurly events Assist with fundraising events Involvement with special activities Adults are eligible to join the Board after three months • Stay in touch with Ranfurly through website and newsletters

BENEFITS

• Personal fulfillment in knowing you are impacting lives • Ranfurly children’s appreciation and positive response • Continued support provides stability and constant care

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

NOTICE

POCANO ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act 2000 the dissolution of Pocano Asset Management Ltd., has been completed and the company has been struck from the Register on the 7th day of November, 2018.

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000 Notice is here by given that ILS Rusin GmbH is in dissolution and the date of commencement of the dissolution is the 19th November 2018. The Liquidator of said company is ELCO CORPORATE SERVICES LTD. Located at Loyalist Plaza, Don Mackay Blvd. P.O .Box AB 20377 Marsh Harbour Abaco Bahamas

Shareece E. Scott Liquidator NOTICE

NOTICE

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMPANIES ACT (No. 46 of 2000) PNC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD. IBC No.160125 B (In Voluntary Liquidation) NOTICE is hereby given that as follows: (a) That PNC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD. is in Dissolution under the provisions of The International Business Companies Act 2000. (b) The Dissolution of the said Company commenced on the 14th day of November 2018 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted and registered by the Registrar General. (c) The Liquidator of the Company is Sterling (Bahamas) Limited of 2nd Floor, Saffrey Square, Bank Lane and Bay Street, Nassau, Bahamas. (d) Any person having a Claim against the above name Company are required on or before the 14th day of December 2018 to send their name, address and particulars of the debt or claim to the Liquidator of the Company, or in default thereof they may be excluded from the benefit of any distribution made before such claim is approved. Sterling (Bahamas) Limited Liquidator

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act (as amended), NOTICE is hereby given that Commercial Management & Marketing Inc. has been dissolved and has been struck from the Register with effect from 31st October, 2018. Lynn Kelly and Halson Ferguson LIQUIDATORS c/o EFG Bank & Trust (Bahamas) Ltd Goodman’s Bay Corporate Centre, 3rd Floor West Bay Street and Sea View Drive P.O. Box CB 10956 Nassau, Bahamas

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, November 20, 2018, PAGE 7

US stocks take sharp losses as tech, internet companies drop

TRADER Anthony Rinaldi follows stock activity, yesterday, at the New York Stock Exchange. Big technology and internet companies came under heavy selling pressure again yesterday, leading to broad losses across the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly fell 500 points. NEW YORK Associated Press BIG TECHNOLOGY and internet companies tumbled again yesterday, leading to broad losses across the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly fell 500 points. Apple, Microsoft and Amazon, the most valuable companies on the market, sustained some of the worst losses. Facebook, another longtime investor darling that has fallen out of favor since this summer, also skidded. After a brutal October, stocks had started to recover early this month. But continued losses for tech companies have sent major indexes lower again. Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide Investment Management, said investors are dumping the high-profile technology companies that have dominated the market recently. He said investors are picking companies based on traditional profit and revenue figures instead of the kind of user growth figures favored by tech companies. “These things had outperformed the S&P by a mile over the last three years,” he said, but that’s changed now. “On good days they’re not the leaders, and on bad days they’re the laggards.” The S&P 500 index fell 45.54 points, or 1.7 percent, to 2,690.73. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 395.78 points, or 1.6 percent, to 25,017.44. It was down as much as 512 earlier. The Nasdaq composite skidded 219.40 points, or three percent, to 7,028.48. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks lost 30.99 points, or two percent, to 1,496.54.

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Investors focused again on trade tensions between the US and China after the two countries clashed at a Pacific Rim summit over the weekend. A steep loss for Boeing, a major exporter which would stand to suffer greatly in a protracted trade war, weighed heavily on the Dow. Boeing gave up 4.5 percent to $320.94, but is still one of the best-performing stocks in the 30-stock index. Apple fell 4 percent to $185.86 on renewed worries that iPhone sales could slow, Microsoft lost 3.4 percent to $104.62 and Amazon gave back 5.1 percent to close at $1,512.29. High-dividend stocks like real estate companies and utilities, which investors favor when they are fearful of market turmoil, held up better than the rest of the market. The disagreements between the US and China at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting left investors feeling pessimistic about the prospects for a deal that would end the trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. For the first time in almost 30 years, leaders at the summit could not agree on a joint declaration on world trade. Talks between the US and China are continuing ahead of a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump planned for the G-20 summit later this month. Among tech and internet stocks, chipmaker Nvidia dropped another 21 percent to $144.70. Nvidia said last week that it had a large number of unsold chips because of a big drop in mining of cryptocurrencies. Facebook sank 5.7 percent to $131.55 and Netflix lost 5.6 percent to $270.21. The S&P 500 index of technology companies has now plunged 13.1 percent since the end of September. Nissan said its chairman, Carlos Ghosn, was arrested yesterday and will be dismissed from the company after allegedly under-reporting his income. Nissan said an internal investigation found Ghosn under-reported his income by millions of dollars and engaged in other “significant misconduct”. US-traded shares of Nissan lost 5.8 percent to

$16.90. In Paris, shares of Nissan’s partner Renault dropped 8.4 percent. Industrial companies and retailers also stumbled. Caterpillar fell 3.1 percent to $125.98 and Nike lost three percent to $72.52. Benchmark US crude reversed an early loss and rose 0.5 percent to $56.76 a barrel in New York. US crude prices have dropped for six weeks in a row and are trading around their lowest level in about nine months. Brent crude, used to price international oils, was little changed at $66.79 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline added 0.4 percent to $1.58 a gallon. Heating oil gained 0.6 percent to $2.09 a gallon. Natural gas surged ten percent to $4.70 per 1,000 cubic feet. The parent company of California utility Pacific Gas & Electric fell again after it disclosed that it had a power line failure near the start of a deadly wildfire the morning the fire began. The Mercury News of San Jose reported Saturday that the company said it had an outage at 6.45am on Nov 8 in Concow. The Camp Fire has killed at least 77 people and destroyed more than 10,500 homes. PG&E stock fell 4.7 percent to $23.26. The stock has plunged 51 percent since Nov 8 as investors try to assess the damages the company might have to pay if it’s held liable for the blaze. Gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,225.30 an ounce. Silver inched up 0.1 percent to $14.40 an ounce. Copper held steady at $2.80 a pound. Bond prices rose. The yield on the ten-year Treasury note fell to 3.05 percent from 3.07 percent. The dollar slipped to 112.54 yen from 112.83 yen. The euro rose to $1.1453 from $1.1412. The pound rose to $1.2855 from $1.2831. France’s CAC 40 gave up 0.8 percent and Germany’s DAX slid 0.9 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.2 percent. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.7 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.7 percent. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.4 percent.

PAGE 8, Tuesday, November 20, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

UK leader has eye on rebellion EVEN SMALL COMPANIES MAY BE ABLE TO CUT as EU braces for Brexit push LONDON Associated Press THE UK and the European Union plowed ahead yesterday with plans to have their divorce deal signed, sealed and delivered within days as British Prime Minister Theresa May waited to see whether rebel lawmakers opposed to the agreement had the numbers to challenge her leadership. The draft agreement reached last week triggered an avalanche of criticism in Britain and left May fighting to keep her job even as British and EU negotiators raced to firm up a final deal before a weekend summit where EU leaders hope to rubber-stamp it. The 585-page, legally binding withdrawal agreement is as good as complete, but Britain and the EU still need to flesh out a far less detailed seven-page declaration on their future relations. May said “an intense week of negotiations” lay ahead to finalise the framework. The deal has infuriated pro-Brexit lawmakers in May’s Conservative Party. The Brexiteers want a clean break with the bloc and argue that the close trade ties called for in the agreement May’s government agreed would leave Britain a vassal state, bound to EU rules it has no say in making. Two Cabinet ministers, including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, resigned in protest, and rebels are trying to gather the signatures of 48 lawmakers needed to trigger a no-confidence vote. One pro-Brexit Conservative lawmaker, Simon Clarke, urged wavering colleagues yesterday to join the rebellion, saying “it is quite clear to me that the captain is driving the ship at the rocks”. Even if May sees off such a challenge, she still has to get the deal approved by Parliament. Her Conservatives don’t have a parliamentary majority, and whether she can persuade enough lawmakers to back

BRITAIN’s Prime Minister Theresa May delivers a speech at the CBI annual conference in London, yesterday. Theresa May said in a speech to business lobby group the Confederation of British Industry that the deal “fulfils the wishes of the British people” to leave the EU, by taking back control of the UK’s laws, money and borders. Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP the agreement is uncertain. It is also unclear what would happen if Parliament rejected the deal when it is put to a vote, likely next month. May’s government relies for survival on the votes of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, which struck a deal last year to back the Conservatives on major legislation, including finance bills. But the DUP opposes the Brexit deal’s plans for keeping the border between the UK’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland open after Britain leaves the bloc. In a warning to May, DUP lawmakers abstained yesterday during several votes on the government’s finance bill. May argues that abandoning the plan, with Britain’s March 29 departure date just over four months away, could lead to Brexit being delayed or abandoned, or to a disorderly and economically damaging “no deal” Brexit. But opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said his lawmakers would vote against May’s agreement and also try to block a “no-deal” exit. The agreement also must be approved by the European Parliament. Manfred Weber, who leads the EU

legislature’s largest group, said the initial assessment of the center-right European People’s Party was “very encouraging, very positive”. But, he added, “it must be clear to our British partners that there will be no renegotiation of this text that is now on the table.” Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said the deal “is the best one possible”. “There is no better one for this crazy Brexit,” Asselborn said as EU foreign ministers met in Brussels before the Sunday summit of member country leaders at which the bloc intends to sign off on the deal. Most contentious negotiating issues have been resolved, but Spain insisted at the Brussels meeting that it needed more clarity on how Gibraltar, the British territory at the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula, would be dealt with. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said the EU foreign ministers “have agreed to the principle” of a one-off extension of the post-Brexit transition period if the two sides need more time to finalise a trade deal. Under the divorce agreement, Britain would be bound by EU rules during the transition. It is due to end in December 2020 but

can be extended by mutual agreement if more time is needed. Barnier wouldn’t give a specific end-date for the extension. It’s a delicate issue for May, because some in her party worry the extension could be used to trap Britain in the EU’s rules indefinitely. May says any extension must be finished before the next UK election, scheduled for the first half of 2022. May tried to build public and business support for the deal yesterday, telling business lobby group the Confederation of British Industry that it “fulfills the wishes of the British people” to leave the EU, by taking back control of the UK’s laws, money and borders. May confirmed the government’s plan to end the automatic right of EU citizens to live and work in the UK, saying Britain’s future immigration policy will be based on skills, rather than nationality. She said EU nationals would no longer be able to “jump the queue ahead of engineers from Sydney or software developers from Delhi” — a phrase that risked further upsetting EU citizens in Britain, who have faced more than two years of uncertainty about their future status. British businesses, longing for an end to uncertainty about what rules they will face after Brexit, have broadly welcomed the agreement. But some are unhappy with the immigration plans, which have yet to be revealed in detail. Carolyn Fairbairn of the Confederation of British Industry urged the government not to make “a false choice between high- and low-skilled workers” that would leave many sectors short-staffed. May said she was confident the deal “will work for the UK”. “And let no one be in any doubt - I am determined to deliver it,” she said.

MARKET REPORT FRIDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2018

t. 242.323.2330 | f. 242.323.2320 | www.bisxbahamas.com

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX: CLOSE 2,006.32 | CHG 0.01 | %CHG 0.00 | YTD -57.25 | YTD% -2.77

AMAZON-LIKE DEALS NEW YORK Associated Press

A COMPANY doesn’t need to be as big as Amazon to get a good deal on real estate. Whether a small business wants to buy or rent, it may have leverage with landlords or local governments to get breaks on rent or taxes. It’s especially doable if a company can be a drawing card that helps boost local commerce or has significant job creation plans. The key is often to look for real estate in an area that needs an economic boost. Even the smallest and newest businesses may be able to negotiate, says Seth Kaplowitz, who teaches real estate courses at San Diego State University. For example, a young doctor or dentist willing to start a practice in an area that needs more medical or dental services may be able to get financial help in buying and/or setting up an office. Small businesses can also band together and negotiate as a bloc, Kaplowitz says. “They can say, ‘this is what we’re bringing to the downtown. What can you do to help us?’” he says. Amazon, which plans headquarters in New York’s Long Island City section and Arlington, Virginia, each employing 25,000 people, won a promise from New York officials for at least $2.8bn in tax credits and grants and expects $573m in breaks from Virginia. Amazon, which is moving into a formerly industrial boat basin in New York, pledged money to fund job training programs for public housing residents, provide space for a new school and pay into a city fund that will be used

French minister says fuel tax protests smaller, more violent PARIS Associated Press

BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.50 20.91 7.50 4.46 1.22 0.52 3.92 9.30 6.60 4.97 12.50 2.74 1.78 8.21 6.30 13.20 6.79 4.49 13.50

52WK LOW 3.50 19.17 7.50 3.32 0.90 0.16 2.25 8.60 6.10 3.54 9.00 2.30 1.50 7.25 6.00 10.10 5.67 3.25 12.50

1050.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

PREFERENCE SHARES

1.00 103.00 100.00 106.00 105.00 103.00 100.00 10.00 1.01

1.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 10.00 1.00

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 Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Commonwealth Bank Class E Commonwealth Bank Class J Commonwealth Bank Class K Commonwealth Bank Class L Commonwealth Bank Class M Commonwealth Bank Class N Fidelity Bank Class A Focol Class B

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 ##########

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

SYMBOL AML APD BPF BWL BOB BBL CAB CIB CHL CBL CBB CWCB DHS EMAB FAM FBB FIN FCL JSJ CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA CBLE CBLJ CBLK CBLL CBLM CBLN FBBA FCLB

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)

LAST CLOSE 4.45 17.43 9.09 4.46 1.01 0.52 2.30 9.30 6.16 4.00 12.42 2.65 1.78 8.14 6.30 12.98 6.41 3.62 13.01

CLOSE 4.45 17.43 9.09 4.46 1.01 0.52 2.30 9.30 6.16 4.00 12.42 2.63 1.78 8.18 6.30 12.98 6.41 3.62 13.01

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.02 0.00 0.04 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 100.00 100.00 100.40 100.00 100.00 100.00 10.00 1.00

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

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

LAST SALE 100.00 107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

VOLUME

EPS$ 0.214 0.932 -0.306 0.317 0.059 0.000 -0.588 0.700 0.441 0.154 0.627 0.102 0.209 0.000 0.670 0.701 0.578 0.277 0.631

DIV$ 0.100 1.260 0.000 0.240 0.000 0.010 0.000 0.710 0.220 0.120 0.620 0.060 0.060 0.084 0.280 0.500 0.150 0.130 0.600

P/E 20.8 18.7 N/M 14.1 N/M N/M -3.9 13.3 14.0 26.0 19.8 25.8 8.5 N/M 9.4 18.5 11.1 13.1 20.6

YIELD 2.25% 7.23% 0.00% 5.38% 0.00% 1.92% 0.00% 7.63% 3.57% 3.00% 4.99% 2.28% 3.37% 1.03% 4.44% 3.85% 2.34% 3.59% 4.61%

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

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

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

INTEREST Prime + 1.75% 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%

MATURITY 19-Oct-2022 ############### 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

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.18 4.16 2.02 182.41 158.55 1.58 1.70 1.66 1.10 6.99 8.54 6.15 10.52 11.46 10.46 10.00 8.69 11.79

52WK LOW 1.67 3.04 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.52 1.68 1.61 1.08 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 FG Financial Preferred Income Fund FG Financial Growth Fund FG Financial Diversified Fund FG Financial 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 2.18 4.16 2.02 182.41 158.55 1.58 1.69 1.66 1.09 7.36 8.47 6.53 11.32 11.67 10.54 9.92 8.69 11.79

YTD% 12 MTH% 2.90% 4.07% 0.44% 4.38% 1.70% 2.35% 2.08% 3.47% 3.35% 5.94% 3.22% 4.22% -0.38% 3.34% 2.39% 4.01% -0.38% 0.53% -1.08% 1.77% -5.96% -3.05% 1.90% 4.59% 7.24% 11.96% 2.77% 3.88% 3.94% 4.69% -0.71% 0.16% 3.96% 7.75% 8.34% 14.88

NAV Date 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 28-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018

MARKET TERMS 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

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

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for projects that benefit the community, Mayor Bill de Blasio says. When businesses that cater to consumers are looking to rent, they can get favorable leasing terms and help with renovations and repairs if they have an attractive or unique brand that’s likely to draw shoppers or other businesses to a neighbourhood or small shopping center. A retailer or service provider who offers “something nobody else has in the neighborhood” will appeal to a landlord, Kaplowitz says. Owners are also likely to get a better deal in a neighbourhood that’s been depressed but is showing signs of turning around. But even companies that cater to other businesses can get a deal. If they are willing to rent in a building that’s sat empty for some time, landlords are likely to make more concessions. Owners need to first figure out if they want to buy or rent. If they’re interested in buying, they should consider if the business is likely to outgrow a property within a few years? And if it does, is it feasible to add on to the space? Owning a building means being responsible for its upkeep. Does the owner have the time or available staffers to deal with maintenance and emergencies? And financial resources for unexpected expenses like damage from severe weather? Does the business have predictable or stable cash flow? If it does, buying may be best, Kaplowitz says. “If you’re going to be around for a while, you want to own,” he says. “If you’re willing to wait out the up and down cycles, ownership is the way to travel.”

CITIZEN protests of fuel tax hikes are choking facilities critical to the French economy, and police have orders to remove the drivers blocking sensitive sites to show their anger, France’s interior minister said yesterday. In a third day of actions, grassroots protesters blocked oil depots with their vehicles and disrupted English Channel traffic in a bid to keep up pressure on President Emmanuel Macron’s government. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said the demonstrations around France had grown smaller while yielding “a multiplication of violent acts, racist acts, anti-Semitic acts and vandalism” since Sunday. Scattered road blockades have continued around France since mass protests of the tax increases Saturday left one protester dead. An injured motorcyclist was between life and death, Castaner said. Since the main protests on Saturday, 528 people have been injured — 17 seriously, the minister said. The figure did not include 92 police officers who were injured, two of them seriously. He said that 27,000 protesters blocking strategic traffic zones were active yesterday, far fewer than the nearly 300,000 counted on Saturday. The government, under fire on other fronts and with Macron’s popularity diving in polls, is walking a tightrope in dealing with protesters. Castaner said thousands of security forces were put in the field, mainly to protect the demonstrators. The job of policing the protests was becoming more difficult and dangerous due to “the aggressivity and change in behaviour of demonstrators...systematically confronting security

forces,” the minister said. In the first sign of a gettough response from the government, Castaner said the right to protest did not trump the free movement of people and goods. Those who disrupt traffic will be punished, he warned, noting that an individual quickly was convicted and sentenced to four months in prison. Police were given orders to clear protesters away from fuel depots and other sensitive sites, three of which had been “liberated” so far, he said. Protest representative Benjamin Cauchy said on France’s RMC radio that drivers blocked about ten oil depots yesterday. They demanded a freeze on taxes that Cauchy said disproportionately hurt the working class. French oil industry lobby UFIP said protesters blocked some of the country’s 200 depots and slowed traffic at others, but couldn’t give nationwide figures. Protesters also blocked a highway leading to the tunnel used by Eurostar trains to Britain, Interior Ministry spokesman Frederic De Lanouvelle said. About 30 people were arrested overnight as police worked to remove protesters, a security official said. The protests reflect broader frustration with Macron, whose government is sticking to the fuel tax rise as part of efforts to clean up the environment. Protesters called for more national actions Saturday. They also said they were raising money online for the family of the protester who was struck and killed by a panicked driver. Macron himself wouldn’t comment when asked yesterday about the protests. He referred to the Sunday night comments by his prime minister, Edouard Philippe, who vowed to keep the fuel tax hikes in place.