By Neil Hartnell

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Cable Bahamas’ top executive says “we like where we are” despite the net loss for the year to end-June 2025 doubling to $6.746m as 50 percent of New Providence subscribers have now been switched to its new AlivFibr network.

Franklyn Butler, the BISX-listed communications provider’s president and chief executive, told Tribune Business in a recent interview that despite closing the 2025 financial year “slightly behind plan” the company had made significant progress in completing the 100 percent roll-out of its new fibre-to-the-home infrastructure throughout New Providence.

With the Cable Bahamas group now aiming to finish the AlivFibr build-out in Abaco this year, he also cited Aliv’s “50 percent and growing market share”, with operating income margins “in line” with global mobile industry standards, as further evidence that the operator is on sound foundations despite its net loss jumping from the prior year’s $3.363m - something it blamed primarily on the payment of preference share dividends.

These payments rose by almost $4m, growing from $17.5757m to $21.589m during the 12 months to-end June 2025, and marking a 21.6 percent jump. Mr Butler told this newspaper that Cable Bahamas is “trying to strike the right balance” between using its $69m cash holdings to pay down expensive preference share debt and “rewarding common shareholders” via dividend payments.

The BISX-listed communications provider paid an $0.08 per share dividend to its equity owners at end-September 2025, and Mr Butler pledged the company will “do all we can to achieve the results to make” such payouts consistent, signalling there are no plans to change dividend policy. However, post the end-June financial year close, its Aliv mobile subsidiary also redeemed $20m of its outstanding $54.291m Series B preference shares on July 15, 2025.

“We were slightly behind plan for 2025; nothing significant,” Mr Butler said. “I’d say we were almost on target. The reality for us is that it was a good year because we were able to finish a lot of the work on fibre-to-the-home. We have converted 50 percent of New Providence [subscribers] to it.

“On mobile, Aliv has over 50 percent market share and growing. It had a strong year in mobile roaming as it took advantage of a strong economy and tourism.” Mr Butler confirmed that the AlivFibr network now passes all homes and businesses in New Providence, although only half of subscribers have so far been switched to it.

“We had some slight overspend in certain areas where we had to put in more underground infrastructure than was anticipated, but we think that was a good investment for that purpose,” Mr Butler added of the $80m network roll-out. “We continue to fine tune the installation costs and the use of third-party contractors versus internal resources.

“We like where we are. A lot of capital expenditure is largely behind us. We’re focusing on completing Abaco for 2026; connecting customers in New Providence and getting Abaco done. In Abaco we are just about done and and we are connecting customers to AlivFibr there. Our capital expenditure is going to improve.”

Mr Butler acknowledged that Cable Bahamas’ legacy TV/video business continues to battle competition from streaming rivals such as Netflix as well as customers who are switching to Internet or Internet/fixed-line phone services. “TV is still where we struggle,” he added. “There’s a bit of pressure on subscribers as people just want Internet or Internet and voice.

“Any subscriber issues we are seeing are in line with cyclical trends. While people come on and off, we are not seeing anything significant. In the Family Islands we are seeing some churn in subscribers. If you go into some of those places like Eleuthera, we are seeing some of that, but in New Providence we are not seeing any erosion of the subscriber base from that perspective.”

Cable Bahamas’ losses in recent years have been largely driven by intangibles and accounting treatments involving the write-down of network asset values via depreciation, plus significant interest and dividend payments on its preference shares and bank debts. “I think 2026 will be the last of those big tranches,” Mr Butler said. “I’m not worried about that on a global basis. It’s not something I have a big anxiety over.”

Further write-downs of Cable Bahamas’ legacy network infrastructure, due to its replacement by AlivFibr, will likely be incurred moving forward as more subscribers are switched to fibre-to-the-home. Mr Butler, though, said the communications provider will continue to use its cash holdings to pay down and retire more expensive debt to slash interest and servicing costs.

“We have got free cash flow and we want to pay down debt,” he told this newspaper. “Eight percent is expensive debt. The more we can pay that down, the better. It’s best to reduce that with excess cash. We’re trying to strike the right balance between rewarding our common shareholders and paying down expensive debt on the balance sheet when we can.

“Aliv is performing very well. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) is very strong. Margins are really in line with industry standards from an EBITDA perspective. We feel that business is in good shape now, and going to impact cash and free cash flow.”

Asked about Cable Bahamas’ goals for its current 2026 financial year, and likelihood that it will maintain September’s dividend payout rate, Mr Butler replied: “We’re going to give more rewards to shareholders and give them good returns on their investment in Cable Bahamas.

“We’re going to take care of our customers and give them a taste of the best in class Caribbean network we have on a network here in The Bahamas.” As for dividends, he added: “We’re going to try all we can to achieve the results to make that happen. I don’t expect anything to change… We don’t envision, save for any catastrophe or natural disaster, any change in dividend policy.”

Meanwhile, Felix Stubbs, the former IBM (Bahamas) chief, has replaced Ross McDonald, the ex-head of Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) Bahamas operations, as the chairman of Cable Bahamas’ Board. The change was disclosed in the communications provider’s just-released annual report for the 2025 financial year.

Mr Butler, in his message to shareholders, wrote: “We took decisive steps to strengthen our financial position, including the successful issuance of Series Two preferred shares, which raised $60.9m in net proceeds. This bolstered liquidity and supported ongoing investments in AlivFibr, which now connects over 24,000 households in New Providence.

“Capital expenditures of $53.9m were directed toward network expansion, digital innovatio, and sustainability enhancements. Meanwhile, the ordinary dividend was increased from $0.12 to $0.16 per share reflecting our confidence in long-term value creation for shareholders.

“While the Group reported a net loss of $6.7m, driven primarily by preferred share dividends, we remain focused on disciplined cost management and operational efficiency. With a strengthened balance sheet, robust cash flow and a clear path to earnings recovery, Cable Bahamas is well-positioned for continued growth and innovation in financial year 2026.”