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Last Updated: Dec 29, 2011 - 2:18:31 AM |
PACKED HOUSE -- Bank of The Bahamas Chairman Macgregor Robertson addresses a packed house at the bank’s annual general meeting at the British Colonial Hilton recently. (Photo by Wellington Chea for DP&A)
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Nassau, Bahamas - Nearly 200 persons, representing three out of every four shares held, turned out for the annual general meeting of Bank of The Bahamas recently, setting a record for attendance since the bank first offered shares to the public in 1994.
“This is the largest shareholder representation attendance we have ever experienced for an annual general meeting, and I just hope that’s a good sign,” said Managing Director Paul McWeeney surveying the packed room at the British Colonial Hilton where more than 11.4 million shares were represented. It was, it turned out, an excellent sign. Despite economic challenges, shareholders were sufficiently satisfied with the bank’s solid performance in the past fiscal year to return all directors to the board unopposed, re-electing Macgregor Robertson, who served as chairman, Marvin V. Bethell, Patricia Hermanns, Patrick Ward, Robert D.L. Sands, Ruth Bowe-Darville, Ruth Millar, Wesley J. Bastian, Hartis Pinder and Dr. Pandora Johnson. Mr. McWeeney serves in an executive position on the board.
Shareholders ratified $5.4 million paid out in dividends last year, approved a housekeeping detail adding K.L and M class shares to increased capitalization of the bank from $50 million to $150 million that had been authorized earlier, heard of a “robust training program” including a state-of-the-art new training facility and got the news they came to hear.
SOLID RETURNS -- Bank of The Bahamas Managing Director Paul McWeeney is pictured with Michelle Pindling-Sands, legal counsel, at the bank’s annual general meeting. Shareholders heard welcome news with the bank’s strong performance and McWeeney’s “cautious optimism” about the gradual movement toward a sustained economic recovery. (Photo by Wellington Chea for DP&A)
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“I am cautiously optimistic that we may start to see a sustained economic recovery in the coming year,” said Mr. McWeeney. In the interim as a hoped-for recovery gains momentum, the bank, he said, was in a strong position, having grown its equity base from $19 million to $114 over the last eight years. Mirroring the title of its annual report, Strength, the bank’s adjusted capital ratio stood at 25% at fiscal year-end June 30. “That is well ahead of the newly published target of Central Bank which requires somewhere between 14% and 17% capital ratio.”
The bank with branches throughout The Bahamas and a financial services centre in Coral Gables ended the year with $758 million in total assets, nearly double its assets of $385 million five years before. Its solid growth, progressive products and uniquely Bahamian commitments and services have helped it earn national and international recognition with awards from the Financial Times Group, Euromoney, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and the Bahamas Financial Services Board.
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