RTC Director

LIAT signs US$65m loan agreement

The shareholder governments of the regional airline, LIAT, yesterday signed a US$65 million loan agreement with the Barbados-based Caribbean Development BanK (CDB) as the cash-strapped airline seeks to upgrade its ageing fleet.

The loan represents 61 per cent of a US$100 million re-fleeting exercise being undertaken by the Antigua-based regional airline that is replacing its Canadian Dash 8 fleet with French-made ATRs.

Barbados, LIAT’s largest shareholder, takes up the bulk of the loan--US$33.2 million–while Antigua and Barbuda put up US$21.9 million, St. Vincent and Grenadines US$7 million and Dominica US$2.4 million.

But each shareholder will provide the funds to LIAT on the same terms it received from the CDB, with the airline responsible for repaying the loan over a 13-year period, following a two-year grace period.

The signing ceremony comes against increased criticism of the airline by the travelling public in recent months with long delays, numerous cancellations and lost baggage being the order of the day.

LIAT chairman Jean Holder apologised for the hiccups, assuring that positive change is coming with the airline’s re-fleeting exercise. 

Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart said his government had no problem coming to the table to assist LIAT, since it is not possible to contemplate a region without the airline, despite the frustration expressed by the travelling public.

“Barbados has a vested interest in the easy movement of people in this region…because Caricom is our third largest source market for tourism. So, we cannot contemplate a region without the services of an airline like LIAT.

“I don’t know of any other airlines prepared to do in this region what LIAT has done since 1956, in one form or another. Therefore, the Government of Barbados, over which I preside, had no difficulty in lending its consent to the securing of this loan,” he stated.

Stuart said that Barbados remains committed to LIAT’s cause. 

“That does not mean that from time to time we too may not have to comment in ways that might make LIAT uncomfortable. But, that is not to be interpreted as any reneging from our commitment to ensuring that this regional airline maximises its opportunities and provides the kind of service to this region which they so richly deserve,” he added.

President of the Caribbean Development Bank, Dr. Warren Smith, stressed that reliable and efficient regional air transport is an indisposable undertaking of Caribbean development.

He said LIAT’s contribution, according to figures, shows the airline’s direct impact is estimated in excess of US$320 million.

Smith also reported that LIAT contributed an estimated US$63 million or 39 per cent of average long stay arrivals to the Caribbean.

But he pointed to significant challenges facing the aviation sector and stressed the need for Caricom leaders to revisit the issue of a regional air transport policy. 

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who is also chairman of LIAT’s shareholders, anticipates the modernisation of aircraft together with improvements to the airline’s operations will lead to an overall improvement in the financial operations and efficiency of the airline.

He said that LIAT has already set its sights on spreading its wings.

Source:CMC 

by RTC Director

Is there a new iPhone coming this fall?

 In a day of whiplash-inducing reports about Apple’s health and future, the most tantalizing tidbit to emerge from the blogosphere was a simple date:

Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013.

That, according to a report in AllThingsD attributed only to “sources,” is when Apple will release a new iPhone.

Or perhaps two new iPhones.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling declined to comment. But many analysts say Apple must offer a cheaper version of its iconic iPhone to stake out a position in the midrange of the smartphone market, as sales of its higher-priced flagship model continue to slow and rivals introduce their own lower-priced gadgets. In the past, Apple has chased that value-seeking consumer by selling its older-model phones for $100 or $200 less than the latest and more expensive model. But speculation has gathered that Apple in September may unveil a new iPhone 5S alongside a lower-cost iPhone.

Regardless of what Apple comes up with, analyst John Jackson of IDC in Boston says, it’s got to be a home run.

“Investors, along with the rest of the world, are waiting with increasing impatience, for Apple to wow them once again,” he said. “And whether it’s in September or not, the next event will arguably be the biggest product launch in Apple’s history because it will tell us about the future of the company as a true innovator.”

Apple’s hammered stock price, he said, is a clear sign that more and more investors are on the fence about Apple and wonder whether it can continue to live up to the legacy left by Steve Jobs of cranking out one mind-blowing product after another. “And whatever it is they introduce,” he said, “if there’s nothing that looks fundamentally new, the market will be greatly disappointed.”

There’s been buzz for months about such an unveiling. And the timing, if accurate, would be classic Apple. The company likes to announce software updates at its developers conference in June, give it a test drive for a few months, then officially release it shortly before its latest product is announced in September.

So far, this year is no exception, as Apple shared its new mobile operating software in June, promising its iOS 7 will be available to the public in the fall.

In other Apple news Monday, its stock price jumped nearly 3 percent in daytime trading, helping the stock continue its long but steady rebound after falling from more than $700 to less than $400 a share. But longtime Apple analyst Charles Wolf with Needham & Co., one of only two Apple watchers who still had a target price of more than $700 a share, said he was lowering his estimate to $595 a share.

by RTC Director

Miners, deal news catch investors' attention on an otherwise quiet day on Wall Street

Corporate deal stories and technology stocks were bright spots on Wall Street Monday on a day when the indexes ended relatively flat.

BlackBerry jumped after the struggling smartphone maker said it would consider a sale. Dole Foods rose after its CEO said he would take the company private and Steinway Musical Instruments gained after receiving a new buyout offer.

Apple, another smartphone maker, was also in the news. The tech giant's stock rose after the blog AllThingsD said the company would release the latest version of its iPhone on Sept. 10. The stock's rise helped make technology stocks the leading gainers in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

Still, those gains weren't enough to push the broad-market index up for the day.

The S&P fell 1.95 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 1,689.47. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 5.83 points, or less than 0.1 percent, at 15,419.68.

Stocks had opened lower after logging their biggest weekly loss in almost two months. By late morning the losses had been pared, and the S&P and Dow remained marginally lower throughout the day.

Apple rose $12.91, or 2.8 percent, to $467.30. The company makes up 7.9 percent of the Nasdaq composite and its advance pushed the index up 9.84 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,669.95.

Newmont Mining was the biggest gainer in the Standard & Poor's 500 index after the prices of gold and silver advanced. Gold rose for a fourth day on reports of increased demand from China. Silver gained the most in three weeks.

Stocks have been treading water this month as companies finished reporting earnings for the second quarter and investors considered when the Federal Reserve will start to ease back on its economic stimulus. The U.S. central bank is buying $85 billion a month to keep long-term interest rates low. Many analysts expect that it will start reducing those purchases as soon as next month.

The tepid August follows big gains for stocks for July, when the S&P 500 rose 5 percent, its best month since January.

Stocks climbed last month after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke reassured investors that the Fed would only ease back on its stimulus once the economy is strong enough to handle it. The Fed's stimulus has been a major factor driving a bull market for stocks that has lasted more than four years.

Any pullback in stocks now is presenting investors with a buying opportunity, said Doug Cote, chief market strategist with ING U.S. Investment Management.

"There will be some near-term volatility, but it's a buying opportunity and a chance to get fully invested in the market," Cote said.

The S&P 500 is up 0.2 percent this month. For the year, it's up 18.5 percent.

Investors will get further clues about the strength of the economy this week when the U.S. Commerce Department publishes its July retail sales figures Tuesday. There will also be data on the housing market, industrial production and the Philadelphia Fed's survey of manufacturing on Thursday.

The market's reaction to the reports may be muted as many market participants are likely to be on vacation this week, said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds.

"When everybody is at the beach, it takes a louder bang to get the BlackBerries to start humming," Kelly said.

Sluggish economic growth figures from Japan, the world's third-largest economy, disappointed investors and weighed on the stock market in early trading.

The 2.6 percent annualized second-quarter growth rate recorded in Japan was below the 3.8 percent rate recorded in the first quarter and the 3.6 percent predicted by analysts. Japan's main stock index, the Nikkei, fell 0.7 percent on the news.

In commodities trading, the price of gold rose $22, or 1.7 percent, to $1,334.20 an ounce. Silver gained 93.2 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $21.34 an ounce.

Among mining stocks, Newmont Mining advanced $1.39, or 4.7 percent, to $30.90.

The price of oil fell 14 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $106.11 a barrel.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.62 percent from 2.58 percent Friday. The dollar rose against the euro and the Japanese yen.

In deal news, BlackBerry gained $1.02, or 10.5 percent, to $10.78. Steinway climbed $3.36, or 9.3 percent, to $39.59 after an investment firm topped an earlier offer from Kohlberg & Co. Dole rose 68 cents, or 5.3 percent, to $13.49, after the company's CEO said he would take the company private in a deal that values it at $2.1 billion.

by RTC Director

BP sues US govt over decision to bar company from new contracts after 2010 Gulf oil spill

BP is suing the U.S. government over a decision to bar the oil giant from getting new federal contracts to supply fuel and other services after the company pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other criminal charges related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The Houston Chronicle reports  BP filed the lawsuit Monday in Houston federal court.

BP says it is seeking an injunction that would lift an order by the Environmental Protection Agency that suspends the company from such contracts.

The newspaper reports an EPA spokesman declined to comment on BP's court action, referring questions to the Justice Department, which also declined to comment.

The well blowout that caused the spill killed 11 workers and led to millions of gallons of oil spewing into the Gulf.

by RTC Director

Cayman Islands Government to stop Dart 50% tax

The new Cayman Islands PPM government says it is standing firm over its objection to the former UDP government’s decision to allow the Dart group to take half of the tax it collects in all its hotels and tourism accommodation over the next decade as part of the ForCayman Investment Alliance. Kurt Tibbetts the Progressive’s former leader of government business and veteran politician, who has returned to the planning ministry said that government is currently in talks with the islands’ largest developer to try and reshape the agreements signed before they current government came to office and the tax rebate was unfair to existing hoteliers and had created a sense of expectation with new ones.

Although the a reversal of the West Bay Road closure appears now to be impossible Tibbetts said he was trying to put the negotiations to bed and improve on other areas. Speaking at the PPM’s national council meeting on Saturday night, the planning minister warned however that the things which were done before the election could not be undone.
Nevertheless, the cabinet’s most experienced minister said that there were several other things that were not yet etched in stone and it was important that government did what it could to prevent the country being the loser in the deal signed in December 2011.

Tibbetts said as the developer has now completed the Esterley Tibbetts highway extension the group was anxious for it to open but Tibbetts said it would not be Gazetted until the parties had reached agreement on all of the elements.

“We don’t want to deal with things piecemeal and we need agreement on everything,” he said as he promised to reveal everything in detail once the talks were finished. ”Some things can't be undone,” he added as he pointed to earlier agreements. But with the recent stalemates on the verbal agreements Tibbetts said government was trying to restructure the deal so Cayman would be better off from the deal.

He pointed to the proposed tax rebate for Dart of some 50% of the accommodation tax for ten years which he said was not only unfair to other hoteliers it didn’t end there as he said, “Every developer who comes to us wants this now,” Tibbetts revealed. He said that this was a matter that government had insisted must be changed and he hoped to have some agreement by next week which would be public as they had nothing to hide. In addition, Tibbetts promised that government would monitor closely local employment and that Dart was aware the CIG would be watching the work permits.

“I don't want anything from them personally I only want what is best for my country,” the minister told the meeting, to loud applause. “We will defend our wicket to ensure the country doesn't get bowled out.”

Updating the public and party faithful on other matters in his ministry, Tibbetts said there were other potential developments in the pipeline. He said the government has met with several entities that are looking to do business in Cayman many he said who had revealed they were waiting for the outcome of the election as they had been uncomfortable with how things had been going.

He announced a planned $15m renovation of the Marriott hotel which has been bought by a group of investors that also involves Caymanians and that approaches had been made for a five star Conrad-Hilton in Beach Bay and a golf resort in Frank Sound and a $360million development which has a 15 year long plan. Along with the Dart hotel plans, a hotel at the Shetty hospital site in East End and other potential plans. Tibbetts said government was interested in sustainable developments which would be well timed. 

The planning minister said he could not say that all of these projects would happen but there was interest again and government would be ensuring that due diligence would be done as it wanted to see the “right type of development: and he promised it would not “giveaway the shop.’

Tibbetts said government would make sure Caymanians benefited from any development with employment for local people as a priority. He also said he would be looking out to make sure the country does not bite off more than it can chew. “We are not going to make any decisions that look good today and that will do harm down the line,” he said, as he promised to talk with the public about all major project or development plans.

Talking more broadly about the government that he was now a part he said it was “early days” but he was excited by the commitment from everyone in all areas of the new government.

“We will see good results we just need a little bit of patience,” he added. “We may not have been as accessible as people would have liked but it’s been rough,” he said as he explained the new government had a lot to grapple with when it took office and it was intent on making the right decisions. He said it would not be much longer before people would see the country moving forward fairly steadily.

by RTC Director