The Queen's New Year Honour list is out and several Bahamians are being honoured, including 3 receiving Knighthoods.

These persons being appointed to the ORDER OF SAINT MICHAEL AND SAINT GEORGE (C.M.G.) and will receive Knighthoods.
Lawrence CARTWRIGHT. For services to education and politics.
Mark HOLOWESKO. For services to business and to the community.
Reverend Dr. Ranford PATTERSON. For services to religion, education and to the community.

OFFICERS of the MOST EXCELLENT ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE - O.B.E. (CIVIL DIVISION) include:
Pastor Rex MAJOR. For services to religion and to the community.
Antonius ROBERTS. For services to education, the arts and to the community.
Dr. Robin ROBERTS. For services to medicine.
David THOMPSON. For services to the legal community and politics.

MEMBERS of the ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE - M.B.E. (CIVIL DIVISION) include:
Elma, GARRAWAY. For services to education and to the community.
Nancy, KELLY. For services to education and volunteering.
Dr. Nigel LEWIS. For services to dentistry, the community and politics.
Dr. Jonathan RODGERS. For services to ophthalmology

Congratulations to all thosepersons being honoured.

Click here for the PDF

A 26-year-old Slovakian man yesterday apologized for his drunken behavior at the Aura nightclub that caused his arrest. Security at the nightclub called police after Matej Konopka, 26, kept harassing other club-goers around 2 a.m. yesterday, the prosecutor, Inspector Philip Davis, said. Konopka, who did [...]

Dear Editor, Let me begin by saying that I have successfully bitten the inner quadrants of my lips to a thin, trying to sit back and say nothing in reference to the suspected Haitian sloops that landed two miles and four miles from the HMBS [...]

Commonwealth Bank’s 6,000-plus shareholders received some extra Christmas cheer this year as the Bank declared and paid an extra-ordinary dividend of 2 cents per share on December 22nd to shareholders of record of the same date. The extraordinary dividend pay-out comes less than two months after a stock split in October this year, which resulted in a sharp increase in the traded value of the shares to over $4.90 from the $3.83 at the time of the split. Executive Chairman William B Sands Jr. noted that “Along with regular quarterly dividends, the Bank will pay a total of $.10 per share in fiscal 2017, nearly $30 million in value.” He added that, “Based on the Bank’s strong capital position, the Board has approved increasing the common share payout ratio from the historic 65% to 75% of net income after payment of the preference share dividend. The slow growth in the economy means that the Bank is well positioned to take advantage of the growth opportunities that are available without having to retain such a high level of current year earnings.”

Since the largest Bahamian Bank went public in the year 2000, it has consistently shared its success with its shareholders through quarterly dividends and in most years, at least one additional extraordinary dividend, a combination that has helped build stock retention, bank loyalty and share value, even during economically challenging periods. The Bank recently released its third quarter results, reporting $39.7 million in Comprehensive Net Income for the first nine months of the fiscal year. The Bank has assets of B$1.7 billion, is capitalized at levels far exceeding Central Bank requirements and is running at one third of the industry standard for non-performing or impaired loans. Executive Chairman William B. Sands, Jr., said Commonwealth Bank remains “cautiously optimistic” about the economy as the Bank prepares for 2018.