Dear Mr. Wilson,
I am a longtime Focol shareholder and I empathize with your incredulity at the undervalued share price. Relative to the market and particularly compared to Commonwealth Bank, Focol is tremendously underpriced. Commonwealth is a special case, trading at an absurd P/E multiple (based on fundamentals and its historical, traditional multiple Commonwealths share price should be half what it is now) for many reasons but particularly because they always put shareholders first and this is especially so in their dividend payout ratio which currently is at 80%. Focol’s ratio on the other hand is just 48%. This is too low. This is where your focus should be.

Buybacks help but the impact is limited and short lived. Save the millions used on the buyback and increase the dividend. Bahamians LOVE dividends and as the dividend yield increases so will the share price. Focol has more than ample room (net income) to comfortably increase the dividend, the payout ratio should be immediately increased to at least 60%. I would argue even more. Focol because of the stability of its product and cash flow as well as very low debt should have a higher yield than 48%! This will be much more effective and lasting than talking up the stock or using buybacks. Increase the dividend and the share price will take care of itself.

DonAnthony Thanks for your insightfull analysis on the share prices for Focol and Commonwealth Bank. What is your opinion on the present share prices of Cable Bahamas based on their 2018 Annual report company fundamentals.

Well cable Bahamas is the anthesis of Focol, it’s is fantastically overpriced based on the fundamentals. Indeed, the market has not priced in the very, very serious existential crisis Cable is in.

Reading the 2018 annual report is an exercise in deflection and distraction by management. Every paragraph mentions the tremendous increase in revenues to 250mill a year. One has to search in the fine print for the 50 plus million loss in net income.

Indeed cable lost over 50 million plus in the previous fiscal year 2017. There has been eight consecutive quarters of loses. It’s prospects are beset on all sides: the legacy business of cable, voice and internet is a non growth area with rivals seeking to poach a bigger slice on a non increasing pie, Florida has been a failure, and the savior Aliv while almost reaching projections for subscribers is still not profitable. It is anticipated break even is in the next few quarters at best. ARPU has fallen well short of projections.

The near term risk is Cable is down to just 18 million cash, last quarter was an 11 million loss, so two more similar quarters and cable is broke. Going back to the local capital market with another preference share offering is a non starter. Soon it will be time to either fish or cut bait.

Cable has promised to resume dividends by the end of fiscal 2019 (June). This is an impossibility, will be interesting to see how the market reacts when this reality sinks in. It is not currently priced in. Finally, cable has half a billion Debt, and has lost 100 million the last two fiscal years. Hard to see how it will ever be repaid. Will cable even survive to repay it?

Given these facts stating that cable is overpriced is the understatement of the year.

Yes, yes and yes ma comrade Don, given what you're professional opinion saying is but another crispy ripe too damn late rescue toxic BOB like candidate transfer half a billion debt over to some kinds special purpose vehicle (SPV), yes, no?

Very interesting . I can't wait for the rosy picture cable CFO will paint at the upcoming AGM ...thank you very much

You did mention that Cable's revenues increased to 250 million a year. Their explanation for the millions in losses is the build-out of the cable system in Florida and the build-out of the Aliv network here. (Is Cable involved in any way with the Fusion complex on Gladstone Road. And the rationale for their attempt to resume dividends by June is that both the Florida and Bahamas projects will be complete by then cutting down tremendously on expenses while the company continues to realize additional revenue. And while the company may be a half billion in debt that is only a payback of 25 million over a 20 year period or $50 million over ten years, if the company can realize the level of revenue if has projected with the corresponding profits. In the meantime, BTC seems to be digging a hole for itself (or allowing Aliv to dig it for them). Word is that BTC is having a cash flow problem and struggling to meet day to day expenses. It has changed top management several times since changing ownership and key staff continue to flee the company like a sinking ship. Of course the government should not allow BTC to go under, but being a private concern the decision is not theirs alone to make. And as early as the end of this year many networks will be upgrading to 5G internet speed. So basically as soon as Aliv is done installing its phone system across the islands it will have to start upgrading it.

Market forces will prevail and the best innovative company will win. Marketing all quad play provider products to the hotels in this country is going to be key.Especially which company can win the new developments like the pointe, Paul winn condominiums on cable beach and the new hurricane hole project as clients. Right sizing at BTC will save the ship but the turning around to profitability is going to very painfully for the staff at all levels there. Gone are the days when the politician s called the shots so favouritism has switched from Bahamians to the expats. Cable seams to have the fusion complex as a client but does not on the surface have any ownership interest. The above analysys of CAB by DonAnthony seams to be spot on but the cably ship is too big to fail so I think they will just offer more preference shares until annual revenues can support More depth payments

there are several factors that are driving down the price of FOCOL shares. Firstly there is the unstable price of oil and the uncertainty it creates on the market. Even though FOCOL doesn't benefit from oli price increases per se, the instability can cause accounting problems. Secondly, there is the uncertainty of the future of oil and gas. Many countries have aggressive plans to switch to electric or renewable energy vehicles and while that push may not be as aggressive here the number of electric and solar/electric vehicles are increasing. And of course, there are the talks about the relationship between FOCOL and BPL. While Focol claims BPL only uses their terminals to transfer its fuel from ships to its storage containers, some believe that the rumors that FOCOL is supplying BPL with fuel to the tune of 1/2 Billion a year. And so they also believe the new agreement between for BPL to convert to LPG in 2020 will bring this agreement to a close, causing hundreds of millions in revenue loss for Focol.

When Sir Snake tries to talk up the value of shares in a company that he controls, take that as a clear signal for you to dump any shares you own in that same company as soon as you can. LMAO

This dude out here tryna pump his own bags loool. Can't even make this shit up.

Yes, or no comrades who be passive income seekers, does likes investing in dividend stocks, yes, no, low yields for investment risk?

No

Common sense.......time ago.... da few an many more gettin pore .....pore gets larger to be porer.... an da average middle class...join da pore cause the soup line gettin longer.....no ...hav jobs....income...laid off even by gubbermint some 2,500....more regressive VAT....
Wealthy fewer population not ...no personal income taxes.....no ..Corporate taxes...
Plenty encroaching economic living survival stressed....make disposable income disappear.....a.cascading more...average middle class n dey will done sells to make emds meet..more an more rougher.......pore porer more time on soup line......rich gets richer..no income taxes...no corporate taxes....has advantages opportunities....basic .

Yes, yes and yes not so easy comrade CEO put shine back on fading interest publicly traded stock, yes, no ask Sir Frankie?