NWU in for the fight!
The members of the National Workers Union have taken up arms against their employers the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) over their pension benefits. The matter is “to be resolved” but it certainly is still not settled.
The NWU is taking issue with plans by the company to change its pension scheme. According to the union, among the changes proposed by the JPS management is a reduction of benefits. Continue Reading →
There are lessons! | Photo by Enokson
Caribbean nations must widen their contact base, build new relationships, and nurture friendships with unfamiliar nations in good times because after the recession England, the US (and all the large nations we used to depend on) will have to focus on themselves.
That paragraph is a pretty crude summary of a Stabroek editorial Global economic difficulties and ourselves. Read the full thing, as they highlight how countries like Brazil are carving out new markets for themselves and what we can learn about how we ought to adjust. Here is a critical paragraph. Continue Reading →
by garryknight
If Grace Kennedy has its way, in the next 8 years it will increase its profits outside Jamaica by a whopping 30 percent. Talk about ambition! big picture – it would mean that in 2020 Grace’s profits outside Jamaica would be an enviable 50 per cent , instead of the current 20 per cent per year.
Now that deserves a round of applause.
According to Grace Group CEO Don Wehby, “one of the first big steps taken towards becoming a global consumer group was a US$50-million investment in a United Kingdom-based company WT Foods.” The company has since been renamed GK UK, and currently exports Grace products to Germany.
Additionally, Grace Kennedy’s popular Tropical Rhythms drinks, which are manufactured here in Jamaica, are exported to Ghana in West Africa, where, according to Wehby, they are in very high demand.
Wehby added that to become the serious global consumer group it envisions, it will have to “commit to investing in manufacturing in Jamaica because that has to be the base.” Another round of applause.
by jhecking
Throw it all into a big inferno! Let it blaze, because that is exactly what we seem intent on doing when it comes to the issue of how energy is consumed in Jamaica.
The ever humorous and insightful Din Duggan discuss the incredible paradox of how a poor nation like Jamaica disregards the issue of energy conservation in his article The hungry-belly, energy-wasting beast.
This is baffling. As The Economist reported, “The only by-product of energy efficiency is wealth, in the form of lower fuel bills and less spending on power stations … .” Even our own National Energy Policy finds that simply implementing an energy-conservation plan would substantially reduce our energy demand – saving us a whopping $48 billion per year by 2020. Continue Reading →
by dpmshap
Attention please! Michael Lee Chin will be looking to employ some strong, sturdy and robust men and women to carry the bags of money his company will most definitely make when they list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in the next 3 months.
There is no real reason why Advantage General Insurance, the supreme leader in the insurance market, should not make the J$450-J$650 million it desires to raise from its initial public offering of shares to the public. Continue Reading →
by Jorge Quinteros
According to a report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. (GIA) – the world’s largest market Research Group – more and more people across the world will be opting to vacation by way of cruises in the near future. This of course is a big deal for Caribbean nations, among of the most popular, most sought after cruise destinations in the world. Continue Reading →
by Toni Blay
If there is ever a time to shout, dance and pop champagne, it is probably when you post a whopping 55 percent increase in (before tax) profits.
Securities Dealers Barita Investments Limited posted $80 million in (before tax) profits for the quarter ending December 2011, a major increase over the $44 million recorded for the corresponding period in 2010.
The details are quite interesting. For example, they spent more on advertising and staff, to increase their visibility and improve staff efficiency and capacity. They were also hit $7 million hard by the European crisis.
Still they made it out. Check out the details….
by Vectorportal
At half-time things were hardly settled for the team over at the Caribbean Producers Jamaica Ltd (CPJ), having suffered fall-off in profits for the first three months of their financial year.
Not to be outdone, the team came back fighting and has reported a phenomenal performance for the last six months of the year (ended December 2011).
Despite the first quarter losses, CPJ’s net profits increased by a magnificent 63 per cent to almost US$832 thousand, from US$510 thousand during the same period in 2010.
CPJ also announced plans to build a J$80 million, 7,800 square feet two-storey retail shopping and dining complex from which they project earnings of J$300 million annually.
by myukewie
Trini hot! hot! hot! Yes, Trinidad and Tobago continues to be one of the major players in the energy market as BPTT secured a staggering US$1.1 Billion for 2012.
BPTT Regional President Norman Christie said on Monday that Trinidad and Tobago assets remain competitive in the BP portfolio, resulting in continuing investments and its recent successful bids for two deepwater blocks in the Atlantic. Continue Reading →
by HeyThereSpaceman.
The American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago (AmCham) is one of those organizations you don’t usually expect to hear much from about on the state of the (local) economy, but when the T&T Government revealed its 2011 – 2012 budgetary expense sheet the group lost it! (Alright, that’s a bit extreme, but they really weren’t happy).
The budget for 2011 to 2012 represented our largest budget expenditure to date, of which $7.6 billion was deficit financing. The Government has subsequently gone back to Parliament to ask for an additional $2.2 billion. Continue Reading →
by marsmet543
How do you leverage human relationships, camaraderie and community with the aim of making your business better, your product more known, and your reach more profitable? Christa Carone, CMO of Xerox has much to say in her article, “A Caribbean Perspective On The Super Bowl: Big Marketers Can Learn From Island Entrepreneurs.”
Carone writes of her Super Bowl experience in the Caribbean and about how local marketers use community as a means of boosting their impact. Continue Reading →
by moostive
According to the Director General, Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Gladstone Hutchinson, Jamaica spends approximately five to seven percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on fighting crime.
The shocking revelation is apparently the reason behind the PIOJ’s Community Renewal Programme (CRP), a private-sector initiative in crime sore communities (which apparently eats up the bulk of the 5-7 percent of GDP). Continue Reading →
Angostura is keeping it in the family | by NAKANA
Angostura Holdings Limited could have brought in some new hotshot to take over the business when former Managing director and Chief executive officer Wayne Yip Choy retired. They did not take that route. This time, a family guy got the nod.
The company flung its support behind Robert Wong, one of its own members with over 20 years of experience with the company.
Continue Reading →
Supreme Ventures Limited
Gaming and Lottery company Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) has opted to delist from the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange (TTSE), citing high costs and low trading volumes. Continue Reading →
GraceKennedy Group CEO, Don Wehby, has announced a number of management changes within the Group and that the changes are being made with a view to ensuring continued growth and profitability. Continue Reading →
American energy firm GreenRG Management LLC, which last year got the go-ahead from Cabinet to set up business in Jamaica, said it will be investing some US$30 million (J$2.6 billion) to finance a plant to manufacture and assemble energy-efficient equipment.
GreenRG says its plan could help cut the demand for energy by about 20 per cent. Continue Reading →
by Sidious Sid
If you ever harbor any inclinations towards a life of ponzi scheming, if even for a second, you may want to consider the sad case of inmate 35017-183.
Once No. 205 on Forbes’ list of richest Americans. Once he had a flock of women whom he would take on private jet flights across the world. Once he wore expensive tailored suits and lived in luxury home. Once, he was addressed by all as Sir.
Now, everything has changed for the Texas financier who is now in jail, awaiting trial for allegedly operating a $7 billion Ponzi scheme from Stanford International Bank Ltd, his offshore bank on the Caribbean island of Antigua.
Now his life is devoid of all the luxurious amenities it had before. Nobody calls him “Sir,” and it seems all his friends have disappeared.
“Stanford’s defense is paid for with U.S. tax dollars and his 81-year-old mother is struggling to help.”
“I’ve maxed out my credit cards and I’m on my last few thousand dollars of savings,” said Sammie Stanford in a recent interview. (She has also had to reverse mortgage her house).
The man who once ran a business with operations in 140 countries has different priorities now. In a recent court hearing he could be heard complaining about being served a peanut butter sandwich on stale bread.
If convicted, Standford is expected to spend the rest of his life in jail.
Former Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira paints a picture of a company facing sure collapse in January 2009 as its executives held back “the complete story” of the state of affairs at CL Financial (CLF) to the PNM government.
She reveals that there was a view that the CLF meltdown would have threatened the stability of the country’s largest bank and would have had severe implications for companies with “tremendous exposure” such as First Citizens Bank Limited, Unit Trust Corporation, National Insurance Board and National Gas Company.
Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Review
The Jamaica Stock Exchange saw diminishing returns this week as all the indices declined.
For the period December 05, 2011 to December 09, 2011 JA$ market volume (excluding blocks) amounted to 35,285,018.00 units valued at $689,592,264.69. There were no block transactions for the period. US$ market volume (excluding blocks) amounted to 0.00 units valued at $0.00. There were no block transactions for the period. Continue Reading →
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