Virgin Islands motorists may see a sharp rise in prices at the gas pump following HOVENSA’s increase of its wholesale fuel prices.
The refinery has raised its wholesale prices, called the rack rate, on regular gasoline by 19.5 cents per gallon and on premium gasoline by 20 cents per gallon, said Alex Moorhead, HOVENSA’s vice president for government affairs.
HOVENSA increased its wholesale price on diesel by 13 cents per gallon.
The rack rates are the the cost of fuel purchased directly from the refinery’s truck loading station on St. Croix. Independent gas station operators on St. Croix and St. Thomas may buy their gas at the loading station, then resell it to their customers.
HOVENSA adjusts its wholesale rates at the beginning of each month. The changes are based on the previous month’s market conditions, which are affected by domestic and international supply and demand and the price of oil in the global marketplace.
Under the adjustments announced Friday, independent St. Croix and St. Thomas wholesalers are now paying $2.395 per gallon for regular, $2.46 per gallon for premium, and $2.355 for diesel when they buy fuel wholesale at HOVENSA. Those prices include a 7 cent-per-gallon fuel tax that the refinery collects for the Virgin Islands government.
In a report released this week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected that the retail average price for regular gasoline would be significantly higher during this year’s summer driving season – which officially began April 1 – than it was last year.
In its Short-Term Energy and Summer Fuels Outlook, the administration forecast that regular-grade retail gasoline prices, which nationwide averaged $2.44 per gallon last summer, would average $2.92 per gallon during the 2010 summer driving season. Average gasoline prices in the Virgin Islands, particularly on St. Thomas and St. John, are significantly higher than the U.S. national average.
The agency projected that the monthly nationwide average gasoline price in the U.S. would peak in early summer at around $2.97 per gallon but that prices at the pumps would likely exceed $3 per gallon at times during the season.
According to the Automobile Association of America, the national average retail price for regular gasoline on Thursday was $2.862 per gallon on Thursday, up from $2.768 per gallon a week ago and $2.051 a year ago.
The latest Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs retail gasoline price survey in the territory, conducted March 25 and 26, showed average prices per gallon for regular gasoline at $2.68 on St. Croix, $3.302 on St. Thomas and $3.319 on St. John.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) — Popular Inc, the parent of Banco Popular, reported a seventh-straight quarterly loss as it works around its credit problems to navigate the economic downturn.
Shares of the company fell 8 percent to $2.80 in extended trading, after closing at $3.05 Monday on Nasdaq.
In a preliminary report, the company said net loss for the first quarter was $85 million, compared with $52.5 million in the year-ago period.
For the first quarter, Puerto Rico’s largest bank sees net interest income of about $269 million, compared with $272.5 million last year.
Provision for loan losses is expected to be about $240 million, compared with $372.5 million in the year-ago period.
Separately, the bank said it has commenced a public offering of depositary shares, each representing an interest in a share of its series D preferred stock, to raise $900 million.
The company said it intends to use net proceeds for general corporate purposes, including positioning Popular to participate in FDIC-assisted deals.
By Randy Howard
WELL known locally and globally for expertise in providing audit and tax services, the financial services firm, Deloitte, now offers consulting and financial advisory services in Barbados, led by a pro in his game.
Oliver Jordan, a top former banker, is at the helm of Deloitte’s new services which will be provided through an entity called Deloitte Consulting Ltd. from Deloitte’s base at the Phoenix Centre, George Street, St. Michael. Jordan became CEO of the Deloitte Consulting Ltd (DCL) on March 01, 2010.
Jordan, who brings to Deloitte a broad range of experience in the tourism and financial services sectors at the highest levels, met with Business Monday recently to give some insight about Deloitte Consulting, its service offerings and his plans to ensure its growth.
Jordan stated that when compared to other players in the local market, Deloitte is still a relatively new firm since its merger with another local firm six years ago. During this period, in keeping with its international reputation and quality service delivery, the Firm focused primarily on audit and tax.
However, given the changing economic climate including unchartered territories within the corporate environment, the need for strong and strategic consultancy services became evident – and with a wealth of knowledge and qualifications in Jordan and regional and world-wide access to human and other resources within Deloitte regional and internationally, Deloitte Consulting was established, well-positioned to lend a helping hand during nearly any business situation or environment.
Reminding Business Monday that Deloitte ranks as the number one accounting firm according to the ‘2010 Accounting Today Survey’, Deloitte’s reputation, expertise and capability is fully available to the local and regional business community – and can be highly personalised based on needs and where necessary, budget.
As it relates to the additional services that the company will now be offering, Jordan stated that these include insolvency and reorganisation services, forensic and dispute services and a broad range of consulting services to public and private sector clients in Barbados and the Caribbean region.
The first relates to assisting companies that may have challenges and assisting institutions who have customers that may have challenges, for example the banks – a sector that Jordan understands and knows intimately having served as a Managing Director of a regional bank and as the immediate Past President of the Barbados Bankers’ Association.
“In addition to myself, we have professionals who have expertise in doing liquidations and receiverships as the case may be, business monitoring, reorganisation – basically the range of services in the insolvency space,†Jordan said.
In the case of forensic and dispute services, he explained that this relates to situations where there are unfortunate differences between companies, and they need an independent professional to take a view – Deloitte Consulting can come in and provide an objective view of the matter under dispute.
He stated that the company has people who have expertise in forensic accounting, himself having worked as a Forensic Accountant in Canada, performing asset traces of drug dealers and others – and himself having worked for Deloitte in the Cayman Islands.
The final broad area of consulting services refers to things such as support for any mergers and acquisitions to Information Technology strategic reviews and helping companies develop strategic plans.
“So for example say you have a regional company that may need some support in doing a strategic plan, we can draw on our expertise in having assisted other companies around the world in similar industries develop strategic plans and bring that global knowledge to bear in the regional environmentâ€, he said.
To make this endeavour a successful one Jordan stated that he will be drawing on the expertise of other partners around the region, and across the globe, which is a business strategy that has served Deloitte well for so many years.
“I’ll be working closely with Deloitte’s offices in the region and globally as the case may be. There’s a lot of expertise in Barbados and the region, and we’ll really be looking at the particular client needs and determining who are the best people to bring in on each projectâ€, he stated, adding that “we’re offering the highest quality of service provision available to our clientsâ€.
He argued that one of the things that sets Deloitte Consulting apart from other firms is that very broad network of expertise, which means that they don’t necessarily need a major team on the ground – because they have the expertise within the Deloitte network of over 140 countries and just under 200 000 professionals (with more than 700 in the Caribbean).
“While each firm is independent our firm in Barbados is grouped in what is called the ‘Caribbean & Bermuda Cluster’, and we operate as a truly Caribbean teamâ€, he explained.
“So if you have a regional client who has operations across the region, we will designate one person in the Caribbean as a liaison for that client, and that person then co-ordinates the works done by the various offices, so from a client perspective it’s just one firm, and I think there’s tremendous strength in that. That’s the Deloitte difference,†he added.
Therefore, for an assignment in Barbados for example, the new CEO stated that they may draw on resources from the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, or even Jamaica, based on the expertise that is needed to deal with projects that may be range from Enterprise Applications to Human Capital to Outsourcing to Strategy and Operations to Technology Integration.
Jordan himself is well equipped to guide any organisation – especially those within the banking and hospitality sector; but from here on, as he charts his career and takes on the helm of Deloitte Consulting, any organisation in need of assistance can call on him and Deloitte Consulting to guide the way.
“We’re living our vision – to be always one step ahead – in the provision of audit and tax which we’re mastered at Deloitte and now in the area of consulting and financial advisory services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries via Deloitte Consulting,†Jordan emphasised.
By Marc Frank
HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) — Communist Cuba is turning over hundreds of state-run barber shops and beauty salons to employees across the country in what appears to be the start of a long-expected revamping of state retail services by President Raul Castro.
The measure marks the first time state-run, retail-level establishments have been handed over to employees since they were nationalized in 1968.
Barbers and hair dressers in telephone interviews from a number of cities during the weekend said they would now rent the space where they work and pay taxes instead of receiving a monthly wage.
Those employees who do not wish to rent are being offered other jobs or retirement.
Cuba and North Korea are the world’s only remaining Soviet-style command economies in which the state controls more than 90 percent of economic activity. Other communist countries such as China and Vietnam have long since liberalized retail trade, services and small business.
The measure, which is subject to adjustment and local conditions, sets a monthly fee for each person based on 15 percent of the average revenue generated by haircutting and styling in each area.
They will be able to charge whatever the market will bear and expect to make good money for Cuba, where the average monthly wage is 420 pesos, or the equivalent of about $20 U.S.
Daisy, a hairdresser in easternmost Guantanamo province, said under the old system the government took in 4,920 pesos per month per hairdresser. Now she will pay the government 738 pesos per month and keep any earnings above that.
In Santiago de Cuba the monthly fee is 1,008 pesos and 1,292 in the city of Holguin.
“We have to pay water, electricity and for supplies but it seems like a good idea,” Daisy said.
She said that while the plan did not turn the shops into cooperatives, employees would have to join forces to decorate and maintain the establishments.
“You will have to work very hard to earn a good living but I like the idea,” said Yordanka, 25, a hair stylist in the eastern city of Holguin.
Barbers and manicurists will pay less per month. For example, in Guantanamo barbers will give the government 604 pesos and manicurists will pay 280 pesos.
The government has not announced the new policy, which began this month and now applies to beauty parlors and barber shops with three or fewer seats, nor has the state-run media mentioned it.
Castro has fostered discussion in the media and through grassroots meetings on what ails the economy since taking over for his brother Fidel Castro more than two years ago.
The retail sector has come under withering criticism for poor service and rampant theft, and officials have repeatedly urged patience as they experiment with ways to bring improvement, without jumping into full-scale capitalism.
Beauty shops have operated in a kind of a philosophical void that served no one very well, said Mabel, a Havana hairdresser.
“In practice they were neither state nor private and simply didn’t function,” she said.
Cuba expert Phil Peters at the Virginia-based Lexington Institute said the new measure was a small step with potentially big consequences if the model is applied to the broader retail sector.
“If carried out fully, it would convert small state enterprises into leasing arrangements and urban cooperatives,” he said. “Since the cooperative model and leasing are already being extended in agriculture, there would seem to be no ideological barrier to employing them in the cities.”
The Cuban government took over all small businesses and retail activity in 1968.
In 1993 the government legalized self-employment in a number of retail activities — from home-based snack shops and restaurants to beauticians, barbers and clowns — but then gradually reduced the number of licenses available.
The number of self-employed peaked at more than 210,000 in 1996, according to the government, but had declined to around 100,000 by 2009.
Countless individuals engage in illegal self-employment, including hair cutting, styling and manicures.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – President René Préval on Monday met with the United Nations Deputy Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro to discuss challenges facing this Caribbean country in the aftermath of January’s devastating earthquake.
Among the matters raised during the talks were education reform, law enforcement and social and political stability.
Migiro is on a three-day visit to Haiti and is also surveying the efforts of the UN and the Haitian government to protect camp residents from sexual violence and related problems.
The senior UN official, who arrived here on Sunday, spent several hours at a camp in downtown Port-au-Prince, the ruined capital, where she held informal talks with residents and formal meetings with women’s groups, who complained of sexual abuse in the camps.
“She assured them of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s firm resolve to work with the government and its partners to improve their conditions. In dispatching Mr. Migiro, Mr. Ban voiced particular concern at reports of sexual violence against women and children,†the UN said.
Migiro was also scheduled to meet with officials from the UN peacekeeping mission (known as MINUSTAH) and leaders of various humanitarian bodies working on delivering assistance and providing protection to the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the quake.
She will also visit the town of Léogâne, epicentre of the quake, to discuss child protection issues with Haitian officials.
At first Haitians of all faiths turned inward, transforming their bedsheet camps into all-night religious revivals as they clung to faith and resilience, crying and praising Jezi.
In the most dramatic show of opposition in the state, more than 6,300 of Miami-Dade's 21,260 public-school teachers took a personal or sick day Monday to protest controversial legislation that would overhaul their pay.
Is it time to make Miami-Dade's “strong mayor'' a little less strong?<p/> Just three years after voters handed Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez broad new authority to operate the sprawling government, Commissioner Barbara Jordan is pitching a plan to scale back some of those powers.
Miami Springs High pitching ace Ihosvany Marquez got drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 1990 and went on to make millions of dollars.<p/> Not from throwing strikes — but from ripping off the federal Medicare program.
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