A rift is developing between the Government and the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) board over the contract renewal of Clarry Benn, UTC’s Executive Director. One one side, sources say, is Prime Minister Patrick Manning; the other is the UTC board. At stake is the jewel in the financial sector and cash cow, the UTC. In an interview on Tuesday, Benn admitted that while his contract had ended on August 31, 2003, he is still serving the UTC as Executive Director. He could not say why his contract was not being renewed, or if it was going to be. “Yes, my contract did end on August 31, 2003 but I work with a Board and I am still here,” was all Benn would say.

But sources say that government is not willing to renew Benn’s contract and  instead wants to appoint Renrick Nickie, Executive Manager, Marketing Operations and Information Services to the post. Benn has been with the UTC since its inception 21 years ago. Sources say there may be “political overtones” in the refusal to reappoint Benn. Chairman, UTC, Hubert Alleyne is said to be supporting Benn’s re-appointment as executive director. He could not be reached for comment. Nickie said it will be very “inappropriate” to comment on such a matter at this point in time. He said he is not involved in the decision making process and has to “wait and see what happens.”

UTC’s assets grew by ten percent from the end of last year and 38 percent from the corresponding period in June last year. Gross income reached $346.4 million, marginally below the $382.7 million for the corresponding period last year.  With respect to the management operations, income increased by $3.2 million to $87.8 million. Net income increased by $4.9 million, which resulted in an addition to the retained earnings of $43.9 million. Retained earnings as a result, reached $261.2 million as at June 30, 2003. The Board of Directors, (UTC) also agreed last month to make a special bonus distribution of $56 million to unit holders on record as at August 31, 2003. This distribution will be paid out of retained earnings which as at the end of June 2003 amounted to $261.2 million. The UTC has in excess of 400,000 unit holders.

Twenty seven employees of Republic Bank Limited (RBL) were recently awarded varying accreditation in Banking from the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBAF), the organisation’s highest award. Staff were awarded Certificates, Associateships and Diplomas in Banking which allowed them to develop a sound knowledge and understanding of the managerial structure and personnel functions of banks, based on the practical application of organisational theory and behaviour. Other RBL staffers were also successful in achieving the Certificate in Banking included Susan Sobers, Vaughn Welsh and Sharon Williams.

The Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS) has given Atlantic LNG a ‘thumbs up’ for the maintenance of high environmental standard, a statement from the company said. The TTBS is the local registrar of the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) and is responsible for issuing and auditing of the ISO 14001 standard. ISO 14000 is an international voluntary standard to which organisations may conform to demonstrate sound environmental management practices. It sets out the requirements for the development and maintenance of environmental management systems that can be measured against internationally accepted criteria.

The ISO standard also helps to promote a common approach to environmental management while at the same time helping organisations to improve their ability to attain and measure improvements in environmental performance. The TTBS conducted an audit of the Atlantic LNG Environmental Management System (EMS) in July to ensure that it was being maintained in line with the requirements of ISO 14001. The company has maintained its certification and no major instances of non-conformance were identified. HSE Manager, Himalaya Boodoosingh said that the company’s environmental programmes were evaluated for all three operating trains, even though Train 1 is the only facility that is currently included in the scope of certification. Trains 2 and 3 were not yet operational when ISO certification was first obtained. Atlantic LNG gained ISO 14001 certification for Train 1 in December 2001. To maintain this certification which normally lasts for three years, the company must undergo regular surveillance audits by auditors from the local ISO registrar. Atlantic LNG plans to expand the scope of certification to include all three trains in time for the next surveillance audit scheduled for February 2004.

So far, for 2003, the outstanding payments on credit cards totalled $809 million. This is a drop from $723 million in 2000, analysts say, but this is nothing to scoff at Credits cards, it seems, are the way to pay. People no longer walk around with cheque-books or huge wads of cash hidden about their body. While the use of plastic is surging, banks, some say, may be the only ones benefiting. Economist and Independent Senator, Mary King, says this increased usage is as a result of the expectation of increased income in the upcoming year. “People expect to be earning more, so they are in turn spending more,” said King.

But this increase in credit card comes with a high price. Its usage is also paralleled by an increase in outstanding loan payments, according to an economic analyst at Republic Bank. While this is nothing to scoff at, according to King, banks have insurance to cover this loss, easing the pain of people not wanting to pay their installments. “Each bank has an international insurance scheme to cover bad debts,” said King. There are currently 22 available types of credit cards on the local market, according to a survey done by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. But even with this myriad of options available to customers, not everyone knows what they should be looking for in a credit card. King advised that customers look at three things when trying to find a credit card, taking into account the fact that many people worry about maintaining their payments. “You should look at the annual percentage rate of repayment or the APR, the length of time you are allowed to repay and the cash refund or cash incentives that are offered along with the card,” said King.

The APR at which you can access credit currently stands between 20.9 percent and 24 percent per annum, which translates into 1.74 percent to 2 percent per month. King said interest in credit cards are too high given that the Central Bank repo rate has been coming down. The current repo stands at 5.25 percent. She said it is an issue that needs to be re-evaluated. But until then, her advice is to ensure you pay off your bill before the time allotted for repayment. The length of time for repayment determines how long a person has to access his credit without interest. Most banks offer 50 days for repayment, with Scotia Bank offering 51 days. A major concern has been increased awareness of credit card frauds, especially with purchasing goods over the Internet. According to King, all banks have a monitoring system that allows them to track their customers purchasing habits, signature changes and and card encoding.

There is a charge of about $20 for the replacement of a lost or stolen card. Since the inception of the Electronic Transfer of Funds Crime Act 2000, this charge is allowed up to a maximum of $500. Since most banks have stopped taking cheques most people have limited options. As a result, King said, this has increased credit card usage dramatically. “People don’t want to walk around with a wad of cash. It is easier to carry a credit card. But it is very important to check them monthly, make your payments and not accrue debts because of them,” said King. According to King consumers need to do more research into choosing a credit card. She said the only way to use the service to your benefit is to understand what you are using. The survey done by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs was a first step to inform the public, but King said not everyone knows it is available for them to look at.

Also, she added that banks need to take time to inform their customers about using credit cards. “A responsible bank would inform their customers since it is their responsibility. It is very bad if they are not doing this, they must and should,” said King. As for the future of credit cards, King said we are slowly but surely moving toward Internet banking. She said further down the road local banks will have to look at digital cash as a means to alleviate fraud and speed up transactions. “In 15 to 20 years, this is where we will be. The industry will become more intra-net,” said King. As far as plastic usage goes, there is a total of 22 cards offered in TT. Republic Bank offers nine, RBTT seven, FCB four, and Scotiabank two. American Express also has three cards on the local market. Incentives play a major role in capturing customers and usually take the form of vouchers, dividends or miles.

According to the survey, any purchase other than a cash advance will allow a customer to claim incentives. But there is a catch. Tansactions, such as paying utilitiy bills, are considered cash advances, therefore customers cannot claim for them. “This is tantamount to banking charges not being transparent,” said King. The customers should be so informed upfront so that they can make an educated decision on how best to pay their utility bills,” stated the survey. According to the survey the most economic local visa card is that offered by Republic Bank. But the least cost international card is offered by Scotiabank. According to the survey the only major constraint to using a credit card in TT is the limited number of merchants that accept them.

When you consider what liberal capitalism has achieved over the past century and a half, not to mention the record of its rivals, the fact that its virtues and its very legitimacy remain so contested is surely remarkable. Avowed anti-globalists are not the issue here: the marchers and window-smashers are not the only, and not the most important, sceptics of the liberal order. Markets continue to function under a surprisingly widespread presumption of guilt. People ask, how could billions of disconnected selfish interactions ever yield an outcome that is collectively right? Adam Smith answered that question 240 years ago but those who believe what he said are regarded by many fair-minded people as slightly mad. Over the past 160 years, the world made hitherto-unimaginable progress in human welfare, however you measure it. Yet nowadays, never has so much seemed so bad to so many.

Short-term problems are usually exaggerated. Undeniably, the world economy just now looks especially fragile. The consequences of the burst bubbles of the 1990s have not yet been worked through. Deflation is a risk: in Japan it is a fact, and in Germany close to becoming so. This makes orthodox economic remedies difficult to use. It is worrying- but this is no terminal systemic crisis. Long-term success, on the other hand, is turned upside down. For astounding improvements in life expectancy, read population time-bomb. For unparalleled advances in prosperity, read rape of the planet. For eradication of poverty (as once defined) in the industrialised countries, read widening North-South gap. Show us an economic miracle, and we will show you the failure of capitalism.

While these attitudes prevail, it is necessary to remind readers that liberal capitalism has been a stunning success. But beating back grossly misplaced fears about where capitalism is leading is not enough. For one thing, the prominent anti-capitalist spokesmen make it too easy. Dwelling too long on their bogus concerns is apt to rot the intellect. More important, liberal capitalism as practised in the West today does actually have some defects. Orthodox anti-capitalists are too intent on root-and-branch repudiation to draw attention to the far narrower, yet still important, issues that warrant action.

Among other things, the main dangers to the success of capitalism are the very people who would consider themselves its most ardent advocates: the bosses of companies, the owners of companies, and the politicians who tirelessly insist that they are “pro-business”. Many of the corporate scandals that America, especially, has endured in recent years reflect outright criminality. A lawful order knows what to do with criminals, and pro-business politicians are in truth militantly anti-capitalist if they flinch from cracking down on bosses’ crimes. The other great ongoing scandal is not a matter of law-breaking: it is that bosses have grown accustomed to rewarding themselves like owners, though bearing few risks of ownership – while the real owners, shareholders in the companies concerned, have let them get on with it. A system that gives a charter to brazen unchecked greed is a system in peril.

Economic liberalism, much like political liberalism, puts great weight on checks and balances, on limits to power and hence to abuses of power. In economics, the most potent checking force bar none is competition. Bosses, shareholders and pro-business politicians all loathe it. They stand to gain, in one way or another, from conspiring to gull the public into regarding competition as a threat to the greater good, rather than to themselves. This is the context of free trade. Liberal trade is nothing but enhanced competition. Anti-globalists have the logic exactly backwards. Far from empowering global fat cats, free trade holds corporate power in check and assaults the excess profits that protectionism, courtesy of pro-business politicians gouges from the public.

Q: I’m in my late sixties and rely on the financial package I got when I retired for my income. Is it too late for me to get involved in investing? I would really like my money to be growing a bit, so that I don’t outlive it.
 
Pearl, Siparia

A: It is never too late to get involved in investing. The key is to identify your particular investment needs and objectives. Since you have retired and are not drawing a salary, security of income would be most important to you. By extension, your risk tolerance would be low, since you would want to protect the principal you received at retirement. In such circumstances, you may not want to invest too much of your funds into the stock market as there may be a degree of short-term volatility which can erode the value of the funds invested.

Therefore the amount invested in the stock market should not exceed 10%, depending on the value of the savings you currently hold. Additionally, you may want to invest your stock portfolio into “value” stocks which are large mature companies which pay high dividends, as opposed to “growth” companies which reinvest dividends and which may be exposed to a higher degree of volatility than “value” stocks. Talk to a broker to construct a value-driven portfolio. The other 90% or so of your portfolio should be invested in fixed income securities, such as a money market account or long-term bond. Once these investments are held to maturity the value of your investment is protected and not exposed to market volatility. However, it is possible that interest rates on TT dollars may fall further in the money market so it may not be wise to invest in a Money Market Account whose interest rate floats with market conditions.

Rather, you may want to lock in a yield from now for a ten or twenty-year period since rates may fall over that time period. For example on some Government of Trinidad & Tobago bonds the minimum investment size is $100,000 and the rates range between 5.9% and 6.4% currently. Every six months investors will receive interest proceeds of about 6% annualised over the holding period. There are other corporate bond issues which may pay higher and have smaller minimum investment sizes. Talk to a broker to get a list of the bonds available to you.

Q. I know mutual funds allow people to invest by putting aside a little money on a regular basis, but if I want to invest directly in the stock market is there any system that allows me to start with maybe $2,000 and then add a few hundred every month?

Ravi, Cunupia

A: Definitely, you can invest an initial amount in the stock market and then put in incremental amounts as you accumulate. In fact, this may be quite a good way of investing as it may result in something referred to as dollar cost averaging. This refers to the process of buying shares at different prices, which in a rising price environment would result in an average cost for the portfolio which would be lower than the price that the share eventually increases to.
Therefore even if you buy shares at a high price the overall average cost would be lower resulting in an overall profit on the transactions undertaken. Some brokers may offer a facility where the funds may be housed in a money market account while the shares are being purchased. In this way the client does not lose out on interest while the broker is sourcing the shares for purchase. Some clients may even elect to set up a standing order with their bank to credit such an account every month with a fixed amount. They would then give instructions to the broker to invest these incremental amounts into shares mutually agreed upon or, in some cases, at the discretion of a portfolio manager in the brokerage firm. This is one of the advantages of stock market investing as opposed to other “equity type” investments such as real estate where very large amounts must be invested at one time. In the stock market, an investor with a much smaller amount can earn “equity-type” returns without having to accumulate large sums which they may not have or not in a position to borrow.

Q. I have a very small business that needs to expand, who can I get to help me put together a loan proposal for the bank?

 Donald, Arima

A: The Business Development Company Limited (BDC) was set up to facilitate small businesses in an effort to obtain financing. The BDC will assess the viability of the business project and issue a guarantee up to 85% of the financing requested subject to a maximum amount. In the majority of cases the amount guaranteed is about 50% of the amount BDC deems acceptable. The BDC also assists the business owner in developing a loan proposal or business plan. There is a “business plan” form at the company’s offices which can be purchased at a cost of $5.
On this form the business owner must provide information which is used by the BDC in assessing the viability of the project. BDC officials provide assistance in filling out this form which would eventually be used by them in making the final assessment. So a loan proposal is not difficult at all as it is preformatted by BDC in addition to which BDC officers provide guidance. Once a guarantee is obtained one can approach a commercial bank in order to obtain the financing. However, the borrower would have to provide collateral requirements for the residual amount of the loan not guaranteed by BDC. This would be determined solely between the borrower and the banker.

Sometimes it is the questions of others that alert us to the questions we ourselves should be asking. As a tour operator, the energy industry of our country has to be a part of the Trinidad and Tobago story we tell to our clients. Having cheerfully informed a visitor of the trillions of cubic feet of gas discovered offshore, and the millions of tonnes of LNG (liquefied natural gas) we were going to export, I was a little nonplussed when asked how many cubic feet makes up a tonne.  As usual, when faced with a question I cannot answer, I researched, and I was delighted, though not enlightened, to find a mine of information scattered through the bp.com.website Natural gas reserves and well production are quoted in cubic feet (usually billions of those), which is shipped to overseas markets in cubic metres (BP’s `British Trader’ carries 138,000m?), where it is sold to the customer at a rate per British Thermal Unit (again millions of those)!

Atlantic LNG’s literature informed me that 699 cu ft of gas makes 1 cu ft of LNG, and that I US gallon of LNG delivers 86,500 Btu’s. The confusion of Imperial, American and metric measure was now complete, but the relativities of volume to weight of LNG were shrouded in mystery. And as my visitor was leaving, his question unanswered, I realised that this relationship was key to understanding the value of the new agreement between the Government of TT and Atlantic LNG over development of Train IV. Previous `royalty’ agreements were, to many eyes, poor value for TT. Recent articles in the business pages of our newspapers have indicted that oil and gas royalties have been about- percent. Without the original data on which these figures are based, their accuracy cannot be verified; almost everyone has a case to prove or disprove. However, even if the numbers are wrong by a factor of 10, the direct returns to TT, from the oil industry, are low. This view was supported by a World Bank study on TT, published in 1999, that stated that TT’s share of its own oil and gas wealth was lower than other energy producers in the Region.

The Government clearly believed this too, from the few public utterances emerging from the commercial confidentiality of the Atlantic LNG Train IV negotiations. However, in June, agreement was reached. BP’s accompanying press statement stated that once Train IV was complete, Atlantic LNG’s total production capacity would be 15 million tonnes per year. The Prime Minister announced that TT would receive free gas from bpTT for years, enabling electricity to be supplied to the nation at cheap and stable prices. After that -year period, we get a 10 percent royalty.  Apart from this broad concept, details of the agreement were subject to the normal confidentiality that one expects in very competitive businesses, where rival companies are jockeying for future market share. And that unanswered question posed by my visitor, led me to question further. What is the value of years free gas for TT, compared to years of LNG production? And years from now, what might be the value of percent?

BP’s Chief Executive of Gas, Power and Renewables (Mr Ralph Alexander) delivered an excellent speech in Norway on February 4. It is available on bp.com, has several references to Trinidad and Tobago, is well worth reading. The key is there; million tonnes of LNG is equivalent to billion cubic metres of gas. Therefore, Atlantic LNG’s projected production of   15 tonnes per annum is equivalent to 0.74 tcf of gas. Trinidad’s current usage is about 0.02 tof per year (bpTT press release of May 9, 2001). So if we got all of this free, it represents about 8 percent of Train IV out put or 2.7 percent total Atlantic LNG production. Based on the nature of my raw data and my very limited knowledge of the industry and this agreement, these numbers are certainly inaccurate, but the order of magnitude is probably about right. This is a substantial increase compared to the past.
At this stage I realised I could not work out what 10 percent in 15 years might represent: Ten percent of what? The possible variables of exploration success, extraction, production, costs and returns over the next 15 years are beyond me. The conceptual thinking behind the agreement also needs explanation. TT is trying to achieve developed nation status with the stimulus of cheap energy.

Does inexpensive electricity encourage waste at all consumer levels? Will new industries develop using cheaper old and inefficient technologies to achieve quick returns on investment? When free gas ends in 15 years, how much will be left in the ground and what will it cost us to generate electricity? If Government will have to intervene then to manage sudden changes in energy prices to consumers, why have we not simply taken a 10 percent royalty right away, and subsidised electricity production in accordance with development plans and priorities? In September 2002 bpTT announced its proven gas reserves to be 17 tof. The amazing new Cassia B platform has a throughput of 2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfpd). At this rate Cassia B alone will extract the current proven reserves in 23 years. Atlantic LNG’s ultimate capacity may also approach 2 bcfpd. Pipelines to other Caribbean Islands and even to Florida are being proposed. Total proven and probable gas reserves of over 35 tcf have been reported for Tt, and further discoveries are likely. How do these different factors tie together, and what is their environmental impact? How can we enlighten our visitors when we ourselves are in the dark?

Mr Alexander’s speech to the Energy Policy Foundation of Norway may again hold the key.  In a very interesting section on `mutuality’ he states – “we (BP) have worked closely in support of the Trinidad and Tobago government in the creation of a Gas Master Plan. That plan seeks to create a lasting legacy from the country’s enormous indigenous gas reserves for the generations who follow.” If this Gas Master Plan was more readily available in the public domain, we could determine the nature of this legacy for ourselves, and perhaps I could better answer the tourists’ questions.
The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Guardian Life. You re invited to send your comments toguardianlife@ghl.co.tt

Over the past few weeks, the word ‘chicken’ might have left a bad taste in the mouths of many people. The recent increases in the price of chicken may have made it the least favourite type of meat. Evidence suggests that consumers are now seeking alternatives to poultry, if only to refrain from reaching deep into their pockets to pay prices many consider to be outrageous. Local meat producers have noted that beef, pork and lamb seem to be gaining ground among meat lovers, since they offer larger servings than chicken at a more competitive price.

At  “Meats and Tings” of Petit Valley, one manager noted that her customers had indeed reduced their chicken purchases, opting instead for imported beef which is being sold at $12 per pound. Pork has also increased in demand, she said, specifically loin chops which are priced at $12.50 per pound.
Customers who still insist on purchasing chicken now prefer to buy whole processed chicken rather than the chicken parts, which, she maintained are highly expensive. Ivan Mooti Persad, owner of Premium Quality Meats Limited, Couva, noted, too, that his establishment had seen an increase in the purchase of turkey parts and lamb. “Turkey wings and drumsticks are now being sold at $6.50 per pound,” he said in an interview, “whereas chicken is priced at $7.95 per pound.” “Chicken parts are also highly expensive,” Persad went on, “going for almost $9 per pound. Wings alone cost at least $9.75 per pound.” Persad revealed that the depot had been forced to increase its purchase of turkey parts to meet the public demand in recent times.

Noting that he supplied meat to caterers involved in the school feeding programme, he disclosed that they too had turned away from chicken and to lamb and turkey as alternatives. He said, “they found that they were losing money buying chicken for their menus, since they would have to pay at least $18 to $20 for chicken, while turkey is being sold at $11.” “In terms of lamb,” he went on, “the neck and shank cost $6.50, while the shoulder, which is more popular since it gives a better serving, costs at least $9.25 per pound.” These types of meat, Persad added, offer a lot more servings per meal than chicken. It is much cheaper to serve them than it is to serve chicken, he said.

While beef and lamb sales have seen an increase, Persad revealed that because of a global shortage of goat meat, sales have been slow. The duck market has not picked up, he went on, since on the fresh market, duck meat has increased by at least one dollar, most likely a reaction to the increase in chicken prices. Some have even speculated that rabbit meat may become the next “chicken,” so to speak, since the demand has increased dramatically among the populace. In addition to the fact that a shorter gestation period of 29 to 31 days contributes to more stock, rabbit meat is also now being recognised for its nutritional value.

Compared to chicken, rabbit connoisseurs claim that the meat has a higher protein content as well as lower cholesterol levels. At Rodney’s Supermarket in Arima, which is the only outlet presently offering the meat for sale, rabbit parts are being sold at $14 per pound dressed. There is also a large market for singed rabbit, where the fur is removed by burning. This yields a larger carcass (? to 3/4 pounds more meat) and a more highly flavoured meat.  Many people are now also looking at the benefits of red meat, which in the past had received a lot of bad publicity, since the consensus was that chicken was healthier. Today, pork compares favourable for fat, calories and cholesterol with many other meats and poultry. Many cuts of pork are as lean or leaner than chicken. Health experts now agree that any cuts, such as pork chops and pork roast, are leaner than skinless chicken thigh. Pork steaks or roasts from the leg are also lean choices.

Red meat has also been found to be much leaner than it was years ago since the newer breeds of livestock carry less fat. According to data taken from the 2002 Dairy, Livestock and Poultry Trade Update, in 2001, Caribbean meat imports totaled more than 200,000 tonnes, which was valued at $219 million. Broiler meat alone accounted for over half of the value and three quarters of the volume of the total Caribbean meat imports. Caribbean pork imports totaled 27,000 tonnes in that year, at a value of $45 million. Canada is the largest pork exporter to the Caribbean region at 11,000 tonnes, followed by the United States and the European Union, which exported 8,000 and 4,000 respectively. US pork imports to the Caribbean represented almost two percent of the total 2001 US pork exports, which stood at 531,000 tonnes. Since 1997, US pork exports to the Caribbean have more than doubled, which suggests an increased market penetration. Trinidad and Tobago alone represented 4,000 metric tonnes of Caribbean pork imports, with a value of $4 million, while in terms of US pork exports, it represented 1,000 metric tonnes. This had a value of $2 million.

A Home Equity Line (Second Mortgage)
A home equity line is actually a type of revolving credit for which your home serves as the collateral. You get approval for a loan amount and can borrow the money, as you need it. Many equity lines are set up so you can just write a cheque from your checking account. If there isn’t enough money available, the bank automatically takes some money from the equity line. Other plans are set up with a credit card that you can use to take out the money. Another option is to transfer funds from the equity line to one of your bank accounts. These loans can be very convenient, maybe even too convenient. You do add risk to the security of your home. You will need to make monthly payments on the loan amount and, if you can’t pay them, foreclosure is a possibility.

The amount of credit for which you can qualify will depend on the value of your home, the amount of equity you have in the home (in other words, how much your home is worth above the existing loans on it), and your ability to repay the loan. Your income, debts, and other financial obligations, as well as your credit history, will be reviewed when you apply for the loan. Most home equity lines are taken for a fixed period of time, frequently ten years. Throughout the period of the loan you can borrow using the equity line, repay what you borrowed, and then borrow again. Some equity lines end after the fixed period and must be repaid in full at the end of that time. Others are set up with an automatic renewal possibility.

Reverse Mortgage
Reverse mortgages may sound too good to be true. Rather than paying down on a mortgage by sending money into a mortgage company, you can end up receiving a monthly payment. I’ll bet that sounds great, but don’t get excited too quickly. Basically, a reverse mortgage is a loan taken out with your home as collateral that you won’t have to pay back during your lifetime. You can get the money in a lump sum, in monthly installments, or you can draw from the funds whenever you choose as you would with an equity line. The loan is repaid with interest when you die, if you sell the home before you die, or if you move to another home. Since you don’t make loan payments while you are alive, the loan amount grows larger each time you draw out some money. The good news is that you or your heirs can never owe more than your home’s value when the loan is repaid. If the bank errs in computing the home value or you live longer than the bank expects when the loan is established, it will take the loss at the time of sale. You do continue to have the responsibilities of home ownership while you live there. You will have to pay property taxes (unless you are in one of the states that exempt retirees), insurance, and for any necessary repairs.

Who offers reverse mortgages? The Home Mortgage Bank has recently introduced this product. These loans don’t have any strings attached that stipulate how the money can be used. The amount you will be able to borrow will depend on your age, your home’s value and location, and the cost of the loan (interest rate and loan origination costs are the key costs to watch). The older you are and the greater your home value, the more funds you will qualify for with a reverse mortgage. You probably should not plan this as your first choice, but it may be a good option if you suffer severe financial difficulties in retirement.

Retirement Living Choices
If you decide you want to move, your next choice will be where you want to live. This might be an easy decision, if you already know the exact location you wish to live in. Or, you may first need to pick the place. It may be too early to decide exactly which type of retirement living arrangement you’ll want. A big variable is how healthy you are when you get there. If you can live completely independent of others, your choices are unlimited. As you lose ability to care for yourself independently, other hard choices will need to be made. Many people hope to stay in their home as long as possible. They can offset their need for assistance by paying for in-home services, such as lawn care, cooking, shopping, personal care, or skilled nursing care. This choice can get expensive as your needs for assistance increase.

Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation Limited Results for the six months Ended June 30, 2003

‘PLIPDECO’s turnover for the six months ended June 30, 2003 reached $72.469 million, an increase of 8.11% over the 2002 figure of $67.030 million.  Fair value gains declined by 5.47%  moving from $2.888 million in 2002 to $2.730 million in 2003. Operating profit increased by 19.95% moving from $21.543 million in 2002 to $25.841 million in 2003. As a result of greater efficiencies, operating margins actually increased from 30.81%  in 2002 to 34.36 %  in 2003. 

Investment income declined by 51.77% moving from $2.320 million in 2002 to $1.119 million in 2003.  Finance cost increased by 81.10 %  moving from $7.009 million in 2002 to $12.693 million in 2003. This increase was due to the finance costs associated with the Berth V project.  Profit after tax declined by 21.42 %  moving from $14.437 million in 2002 to $11.344 million in 2003. In the second half the Group expects to commission a recently acquired mobile harbour crane and a ship to shore gantry crane.  This is expected to impact positively on the Group’s end of year performance because of the tax allowances that these acquisitions would generate and the additional cargo-handling throughput expected from increased utilisation of the new facilities.

We believe the Group would achieve its profit after tax forecast for 2003 of $ 23.854 million set out in the Information Memorandum for its recently completed Rights Issue. This translates to earnings per share of 75 cents  (based on the weighted average capital for the year).   On the capital after the rights issue the estimated earnings is 60 cents per share. Thus at the current price of $10.05 the share is trading at a PE of 16.75 based on the capital after the rights issue.  Thus we believe this share is fully valued and recommend it to investors with a long term horizons. The Board of Directors have recommended an interim dividend of 10 cents per share which would be paid on October 10, 2003 to all Shareholders on the Register as at September 18, 2003.

Sagicor Financial Corporation
Results for the six months
ended June 30, 2003
ALL FIGURES IN BDS$

This is Sagicor’s first year as a public company and as such there is no meaningful comparison except for the forecast given in the Prospectus for the Initial Public Offering (IPO) in December 2002. For the six months ended June 30, 2003 the Group has earned $369.4 million, representing 49.60 %  of the amount forecast in the Prospectus for the IPO.  Policyholder’s benefits and expenses were $334.2 million which was 50.4 %  of the forecast.
This includes $10 million in re-organization cost; the Chairman has indicated this would only cost $1 million in the second half.  Profit from operations amounted to $35.2 million while the net profit achieved was $19.8 million.  The earnings per share achieved for the period was 7.62 cents.

The Chairman has indicated the Group remained confident that it would meet its 2003 forecast of 20.99 cents.  Other than the normal operations in the second half the Group should also benefit from the sale of its banking subsidiary, The Mutual Bank.  Also the benefits from the start up of Sagicor General should also begin to accrue. The economy and stock market in Trinidad and Tobago remains buoyant which augurs well for the Group.  We believe the main issues with this Group are the full integration of Life of Barbados and the performance of the Jamaican operations. Given the 2003 forecast of 20.99 cents per share and the present price of $2.90 the PE Ratio is 13.82.  Thus this share is fully valued.  Analysis by West Indies Stockbrokers Limited. Member of the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange Ltd.