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‘Unprecedented’: Hotel staff enjoyed slow season boost ‘unpred

Many hotel staff worked “unprecedented” five-day weeks during the tourism season’s slowest months, a union leader revealed yesterday, as he bids to complete multiple new industrial agreements in early 2023.

Realtor has ‘never seen such high rental rates’

A Bahamian realtor says he has “never seen such high rental rates” as now exist in some of western New Providence’s most upscale communities with demand in this segment now suppressing available-for-sale inventory.

Pensioners left with 30% in City Markets HQ sale

* Claim trustees ‘not acting in our best interest’ * Trustees retain 27% of $3m sale to AML Foods * And lawyer paid almost one-third of proceeds

City Markets pensioners have been “kept in the dark” over the $3 million sale of the plan’s main asset, with just 30 per cent of the proceeds seemingly left for their benefit.

S&P: Gov’ts fiscal, economic reforms ‘will take time’ to work

* 1.5% average growth forecast lower than IMF’s * Grand Lucayan closure takes out 7% of rooms * Debt to rise through 2020 to 52% of GDP

THE Government’s fiscal and economic reforms will take time to “pay dividends”, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) warned yesterday, as it took a more ‘bearish’ view of the Bahamas’ growth prospects. The rating agency, in its latest Bahamas country assessment, expressed confidence that the Minnis administration’s fiscal reforms will “arrest the deterioration” in the Government’s deficit and the national debt.

Kosoy, Sterling eye Hurricane Hole deal

David Kosoy’s Sterling Global Financial is in negotiations to acquire Paradise Island’s Hurricane Hole property from Atlantis’s owner, Tribune Business can reveal.

PHA: 20% local spend rise rebuts ‘wipe out’ fears

The Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) yesterday said the 20 per cent increase in spending with Bahamian pharmaceutical wholesalers over a two-year period proves that fears it is intent on “wiping out” the industry are groundless.

Ex-minister: Dingman case 'waste of judicial resources'

Trying the $1.1 million damages claim against Jamie Dingman's failed Nassau restaurant empire in New York will be "a waste of judicial resources", a former Cabinet minister is arguing.

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Minister to activists: Don’t deny us jobs

A Cabinet Minister yesterday urged environmental activists to be “balanced and responsible” when launching legal actions against legitimate developers, warning that these could deny Bahamians much-needed “economic benefits”.

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Baha Mar becoming ‘huge white dinosaur’

A former Baha Mar director yesterday warned that the Government will soon “have a huge white dinosaur on their hands”, despite the project’s secured creditor promising that a solution is being developed.

BTC profits slump 26.4%

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) suffered a 26.4 per cent profits slump for the year to end-March 2015, as its revenues and staffing levels came under pressure in the run-up to mobile liberalisation.

Baha Mar’s expat hires told to leave

Baha Mar has told several expatriate hires to leave the Bahamas because construction delays mean there are no jobs for them to step into, amid suggestions it is seeking additional financing to complete the $3.5 billion project.

CIBC: Bahamas worst for ‘bad’ mortgages

CIBC’s top Caribbean executive yesterday revealed that the “magnitude” of non-performing home loans in the Bahamas was “greater than anywhere else” in the region, this nation accounting for 50 per cent of the bank’s ‘bad’ mortgages.

CIBC:‘No plans’ for further terminations

CIBC’s top Caribbean executive yesterday said the bank had “no plans” for any further major outsourcing of jobs from the Bahamas, emphasising it was targeting the retail and private wealth management segments for growth.

Ansbacher in $2myacht lien battle

Ansbacher (Bahamas) is seeking to recover more than $2 million owed by a delinquent borrower by foreclosing on, and selling, his multi-million dollar yacht.

Lyford Cay Club in $17m shopping centre purchase

The Lyford Cay Club is moving to close a $17 million deal to acquire its old shopping centre from New Providence Development Company, with plans to convert it into a mixed-use retail, residential and marina project.

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Atlantis 'savours' $1.9bn refinance

Atlantis was yesterday said to be “savouring” its completed $1.9 billion debt refinancing, its owner having invested some $500 million in the property since taking control two years ago.

Rival Bahamian bidders in fight for last Gov’t hotel

Rival Bahamian-led bids with strong Andros connections are battling to acquire the last government-owned hotel, Tribune Business can reveal, with at least one proposal focusing on eco-tourism. Prescott Smith, owner of Stafford Creek Lodge, confirmed to Tribune Business that he was heading one group seeking to buy the Fresh Creek-based Lighthouse Club from the Government-owned Hotel Corporation of the Bahamas.

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Bimini Big Game unveils new logo

THE Bimini Big Game Club Resort & Marina's owners have unveiled as new logo design that will represent the 51-room property in all future marketing and branding initiatives.

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Atlantis takeover 'best thing that ever happened'

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor Brookfield Asset Management's ownership takeover at Atlantis and the One & Only Ocean Club has been described by a leading accountant as "the best thing that ever happened for the Bahamas". Raymond Winder, managin

IMF fiscal reform delays 'may jeopardise recovery'

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor A failure to rapidly implement tax reforms "could jeopardise a sustained recovery" in the Bahamas, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warning the Government's plans were "not sufficient" to reverse a rising $4.