The Tribune

FOCOL Holdings' chairman says the company has "bold plans" that will soon "transform" its operations, although he provided no details.

Sir Franklyn Wilson was speaking at the BISX-listed petroleum products supplier's annual general meeting (AGM) for the 2016-2017 financial year, a period that was impacted by Hurricane Matthew.

The year to end-June 2017 was described as one of "resilience", with FOCOL Holdings' net comprehensive income declining slightly year-over-year to $30.3 million, compared to $31.3 million the year before.

Hurricane Matthew's winds caused major disruption to the company's fuel distribution operations in both the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands, although the company was able to restore key infrastructure within days.

"It was really challenging," Sir Franklyn said. "But out of it came some wonderful benefits for the company, quite candidly, because it provided the company an opportunity to perform at a level that the country had never seen and did not know we could do."

FOCOL Holdings managed to sustain operations despite the damage to its Clifton Pier infrastructure and fuel import lines, restoring full restore supply throughout its distribution network within daysof Matthew's passage.

Anthony Robinson, FOCOL's president and chief executive, said FOCOL Holdings was able to "rise up" to the challenge laid down by Matthew.

"The point we want to make here is that we have developed a very competent group of Bahamians who know this business well, who are committed to service, and who are committed to the success of this company," Mr Robinson told shareholders.

"To give you some assurance that surely, as we move through life, we will be challenged; but you can be assured that no stone will be left unturned with regards to us showing continued viability and the success of this company. "Certainly being a publicly-traded company we have an obligation to our staff, to our customers to make sure that we have proper contingencies in place, so that when we are challenged we have a way to re-align ourselves and continue to meet the requirements of our staff and also the requirements of our customers," he continued.

"We spend a lot of time looking at new trends in the industry so that we can remain current and relevant.

"We are noticing more frequent hurricanes, hence we have come up with plans that would allow us to mitigate against the impact of those hurricanes. Building in that sort of contingency into our business is one of the driving forces behind us being resilient," said Sir Franklyn.

He told shareholders FOCOL Holdings is eying some "bold plans", adding: "That's all I can say. We have some bold plans. God willing, this company will be transformed in the not too distant future."