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Implode Hilton, Rebuild Hilton THEN Sell Hilton

The following article by Afra Raymond about state owned hotels is timely because of the government of Barbados decision to dump the Barbados Hilton for USD80 millions -it is being whispered. The point Afra raises about the need for disclosure of the agreements between government and the hotel management company in the public interest fuels…

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Afra Raymond, Citizen Advocate

The following article by Afra Raymond about state owned hotels is timely because of the government of Barbados decision to dump the Barbados Hilton for USD80 millions -it is being whispered. The point Afra raises about the need for disclosure of the agreements between government and the hotel management company in the public interest fuels BU’s concern about the cloak of secrecy by the government of Barbados to dump a prized possession for 30 pieces of silver. It seems like the other day the government of the day sold the national bank to fund the implosion and rebuilding of the historic building at Needam’s Point.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive! (Sir Walter Scott, 1808)

David –Blogmaster

At the end of January 2018, the Ministry of Trade & Industry and its implementing agency, Evolving Technologies & Enterprise Development Company (ETECK), announced the completion of a $7.6M project for the renewal of the Trinidad Hilton Pool. According to the official statements, that project was completed on time and within budget, as part of […]

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87 responses to “Implode Hilton, Rebuild Hilton THEN Sell Hilton”

  1. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    Maybe it was misconstrued I was suggesting the selling of the Hilton property at the rumoured price was a “good thing” or desirable.
    My point was, it isn’t totally surprising, that was the ‘best offer’, under current conditions.
    The ongoing deficits and growing debt are killing us slowly.

  2. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    This makes entertaining reading outside of m
    the realistic positions taken by Hal. We are
    acting as if Barbados is some magical place
    immuned from the realities of a rapidly
    expanding small state with little developed
    industries to sustain what by all evidence
    is a lifestyle or consumer mentality that is
    way beyond it’s ability to earn FX to
    maintain far less sustain .
    What we are witnessing, and we are all
    complicit is a severe case of champagne m
    taste with mau by pockets.
    Just check the supermarket shelves and
    find out the taste we have and then check
    the consumers from the countries
    where these goods come from who will
    tell us point blank that they have to
    buy store brands because they cannot. afford the brand names!
    We have people driving 8 cylinder trucks
    to work! We have people who will not
    drink rum – brandy only. We have people
    building mansions to be inhabited by four
    people including two children.
    Go figure and stop the excuses! The country
    needs a dose of serious economic and fiscal
    reality and it cannot and will not be
    administered by the collective jokers
    who now make up the government and
    opposition.
    Let’s cut the crap and call it for what it really
    is. Now let me go and enjoy my second
    cruise for the year before I go off on my
    annul shopping spree to Miami befor
    checking my partner in N Y.
    Pick sense from dat !

  3. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    ”””””’There is no ‘science’ to return on investment. That applies if it is a legitimate trading business and how much the buyer wants the business, its synergies with any existing business.”””””””””””’

    The foolish man from England (Halton Austin) made the above remarks in response to a
    ‘Northern Observer’ statement.

    We generally don’t read anything that asshole has to say but this load of ignorance caught our eye – in passing.

    It’s unbelievable for a man who credits himself as knowing about financial matters, a financial markets journalist, etc.

    A man who holds out himself as a sort of economic expert to make such statements

    This a man who continue to opine about the lack of serious debate here on BU

    A man purporting to advice government

    How could it be possible to intelligently engage such a miscreant when simple factoids are denied.

    We wonder whether Hallton Austin has ever valued an operating company, one!

    We wonder if he has ever purchased a corporation, as a going concern, on his own account.

    In denying the truth of what Northern Observer had to say, the perennial idiot known as Halton Austin, tries to impress us that he is some business guru by introducing specious factors like how much a particular buyer is willing to pay and talk about synergies.

    Indeed such considerations are already factored into valuation science.

    What a total asshole is this Halton Austin.

    For those of us who know more than a little bit about company valuation Austin must try to explain how the establishment of EBITDA and the relevant multiples, based on industry sector, is not science. And if this popularly used rule of thumb is not science then what is it?

    For the more advance thinkers on this subject, like Northern Observer and yours truly, the task of valuation begins with science but ends with art.

  4. David Avatar
    David

    @William

    You have stated what the problem is and many on BU have articulated same- rampant conspicuous consumption- and the condition is not unique to Barbados. All economies are built on achieving growth to satisfy the needs of the society. As a people we have to ensure the inputs to that growth are built on a sustainable approach. Given the changing global markeplace we have to compete there will always be tension on how we do it. Because we like others are vulnerable to exogenous shocks we have to be efficient in how we do things. We have a generation who have no idea what it will take to survive in this world. It is easy to say we must do this and that but is it? How key stakeholders manage this period will riveberate for years to come. Some are set in their ways and there is high apathy with the young who are said to be well educated.

  5. David Avatar
    David

    @Pacha

    It was the blogmaster that made a reference to the science of using ROI and other key indicators to determine sale price as a point to inform negotiations. Although NO agrees he continued with a more pragmatic view given the current state Barbados funds itself.

  6. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    David

    We stand corrected!

  7. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    For the more advance thinkers on this subject, like Northern Observer and yours truly, the task of valuation begins with science but ends with art.(Quote)

    I have always thought that rockets going in to space was art…….see how bogus, loud-mouthed ignorance can shout down the intimidated and weak-willed? Something that starts as science can transform itself (or by magic) in to art, according to this foulmouthed nonsense – all this without Hollywood or fancy costumes.
    It is the same brain dead ignorance that says Logic is not at the heart of philosophy. Aristotle must be turning in his grave. So have all those people who have worked on the subject.
    For the more rational person, return on investment is a formula on which investors calculate their investments. But it is not science.
    Science is based on conjectures and refutations, as we have been told by a great philosopher, a position endorsed by the Kuhn, while mathematics is linear, once proven it is proven. Science may be based on mathematics, but mathematics is not based on science.
    Some may remember British Home Stores was sold by Sir Philip Green, a regular visitor to Barbados, for £1 to Dominic Chappelle. That included all its assets (freeholds, if any, leaseholds, merchandise, intellectual property, debt, liabilities and all).
    What was his return on investment? How did he scientifically calculate that £1 was the full value of the investment? Was there logic in this sale?

  8. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    David at 8 :35 AM

    Comprehensively said.
    Well educated ?
    That depends on the definition of Education. If the latter means developing their cognitive skills we may be skating on very thin ice. Collecting information and treating knowledge as an asset is not education. Knowledge has a very short shelf life .It must continually be restocked. An educated person approaches life with humility and awe. The educated person is conscious of the fact that he knows little. Very often nothing.

  9. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    @ Hal Austin at 9 :21 AM

    Before Pacha brings out his guillotine , I would suggest you give us the full narrative ,including the anecdotal evidence surrounding this issue.

  10. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Bernard Codrington
    @ David
    It is about time that we stop “bragging”
    about an education system that is woefully
    disconnected from any known economic
    policy. If that sounds strange, it’s because
    it is !
    Now explain to me how a country that was
    at least 15 years late embracing technology
    Within its education system is expected
    to enhance its socio economic planning.
    There is a reason why Sinckler cannot get
    anything right and Mottley does not have
    the answers.
    Ever since an international diplomat
    told us we were punching above our
    weight, we have been on cloud nine
    and now we are almost flat on our backs,
    we still “bragging” . Strange indeed.

  11. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    return on investment is a formula on which investors calculate their investments. But it is not science.

    IT IS NOT SCIENCE BECAUSE IT CAN NOT BE REPRODUCIBLE AND ONE CAN NOT DEPEND ON THE FIGURE DERIVED

    return on investment is INDEED ONLY a formula on which investors calculate their investments.

    ONCE THE INVESTMENT IS MADE, MANY PARAMETERS CAN CHANGE SO THAT THE EXPECTED RETURN ON THE INVESTMENT DOES NOT OCCUR

    FOR EXAMPLE FOLK WHO BOUGHT AND IMPROVED RENTAL PROPERTIES IN BARBADOS IN 2008 HAVE NOT BEEN SEEING THE EXPECTED ROI BECAUSE OF THE MAJOR INTERVENTION OF THE MISMANAGEMENT OF THE BAJAN ECONOMY, WHICH HAS RESULTED IN YOUNGSTERS WHO MIGHT HAVE RENTED SUCH REAL ESTATE HAD TO RETURN TO THEIR PARENTS HOMES.

    MANY FOLK IN PORTSMOUTH DOMINICA AND ITS ENVIRONS WHO BOUGHT AND IMPROVED RENTAL PROPERTIES ARE NOW IN SERIOUS FINANCIAL PROBLEMS BECAUSE ONE OF THE RESULTS OF THE RECENT HURRICANES WAS TO REMOVE THEIR EXPECTED ROI AS ROSS MED SCHOOL DEPARTED THE DOMINICA SHORES

  12. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    @ David at 8 : 49 AM

    No need to apologize. Calculating a projected rate of return is a scientifically accepted method for testing the hunch that an investment will be profitable. It is one of the many heuristic tools used.

  13. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    So Georgie if you tested my urine which I passed into an unsterilized beaker and the result came back false positive , does that mean that your test was unscientific?

  14. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    Calculating a projected rate of return is indeed an accepted method or tool for testing the hunch that an investment will be profitable…………….but it is not fool proof or scientific

    by definition a hypothesis is thought to be scientific if it is reproducible
    WHEN EVER YOU ADD SUBSTANCE A TO SUBSTANCE B, UNDER THE SAME CONDITIONS SUBSTANCE C IS ALWAYS PRODUCED! THAT IS SCIENTIFIC!

    SCIENTIFIC IS AN ABUSED WORD LIKE PROFESSIONAL AND PRESIDENTIAL ah lie?

  15. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Georgie Porgie February 21, 2018 at 10:44 AM #

    Calculating a projected rate of return is indeed an accepted method or tool for testing the hunch that an investment will be profitable…………….but it is not fool proof or scientific(Quote)

    Thank you. It is a financial mathematical formula.

  16. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    So Georgie if you tested my urine which I passed into an unsterilized beaker and the result came back false positive , does that mean that your test was unscientific?

    YES BECAUSE IT WAS NOT DONE UNDER STANDARD CONDITIONS…….IE DONE UNDER STERILE CONDITIONS

    IF THE BEAKER WAS UNSTERILIZED IT MIGHT HAVE CONTAINED ORGANISMS THAT WERE NOT AT ALL PRESENT IN YOUR URINARY TRACT

  17. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    YOUR RESULT MIGHT OF COURSE BE FALSE POSITIVE………BUT YOU MIGHT ALSO HAVE THE BUGS IN THE UNSTERILIZED BEAKER TOO.LOL

  18. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    Georgie now you are being unscientific.
    False positive indicates that I would have had another test to confirm the first result. And that other corroborating tests would have been done. You must use this blog as an educating opportunity George. LOL

  19. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    @ Hal

    The art is in choosing the correct tool for the purpose ,the time and the space. We ,economists have a tool box filled with different models. The competent economists use the tools based on assumptions nearest to the economic realities. The latter changes as Georgie pointed out above.

  20. David Avatar
    David

    Thanks Bernard, the point is at the time of sale a scientific approach is taken to determine price. If the ROI and other financial measures are achieved is another point.

  21. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    I answered your question simply Sir
    re False positive indicates that I would have had another test to confirm the first result.
    I LEARNED THIS AS FAR BACK AS 1972 WHEN I FIRST SAW MY FIRST FALSE POSITIVE
    AND THEN NO other corroborating tests wERE done. THE PERSON WITH THE FALSE POSITIVE TEST WAS CALLED UP STAIRS TO THE LAB……….AND WE WERE ABLE TO GET A GOOD IDEA WHY HE HAD SUGAR IN HIS URINE BY TAKING A HISTORY………..HE HAD FEASTED ON FRUIT CAKE THE WHOLE WEEKEND AND THAT MORNING!

    RE You must use this blog as an educating opportunity George.
    I HAVE DESIRED TO GIVE THAT UP……….. AFTER ALL I GET MY INFO OF THE INTERNET, AND THIS INFO CAN EASILY BE GOT THERE. LET THE PERSON THAT SAID THIS AND THE ONE WHO DEEMED ME IMMATURE WHEN I ASKED A REASONABLE QUESTION TO ONE OF THE ANNOINTED. TO DO THE EDUCATING

    IM NOW HERE TO RELIEVE BOREDOM AND TO BE ENTERTAINED

  22. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    @ Hal

    Science is not fool proof. Its litmus test is whether it is replicable or not. While it is easy to do so in the physical sciences of chemistry and physics,we cannot ethically do those experiments with human beings and the society in which humans live. We use statistics which is history quantified. And even then our ideologies determine whether they are facts or not.

  23. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    BERNARD

    I MAY NOT BE AN ECONOMIST BUT I BOUGHT AND MANAGED REAL ESTATE AND ATTENDED MANY REAL ESTATE SEMINARS IN THE 90’S AND I KNOW WHAT ROI MEANS AND I HAVE DONE THE CALCULATIONS

    ROI BY DEFINITION DOES NOT FOLLOW THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD AS TAUGHT IN THE SCIENCE TEXTS THAT I HAVE READ

    I HAVE GIVEN EXAMPLES ABOVE WHERE USING THIS TOOL IS NOT NECESSARILY FOOL PROOF OR REPRODUCIBLE, AND MY EXAMPLES CAN NOT BE REFUTED

    YOU MAY CONTINUE THE EDUCATION KIND SIR

    I AM NOT AN ECONOMIST BUT I TRY TO FOLLOW THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

  24. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    Bernard Codrington February 21, 2018 at 11:32 AM #
    @ Hal

    Science is not fool proof. Its litmus test is whether it is replicable or not.

    EXACTLY…….WHETHER REPLICABLE OR NOT IS THE KEY WORD IN THE DEFINITION!

    AND CALCULATIONS OF ROI ARE NOT REPLICABLE.

    ROI’S ONLY SUGGESTS TO THE INVESTOR IF AN INVESTMENT SHOULD BE VIABLE

    IT IS NOT SCIENTIFIC BY DEFINITION

    AND AS MANY HAVE FOUND OUT TO THEIR PERIL ROI’S CAN NOT ACCOUNT FOR THE VARIABLES THAT ARE UNKNOWN TO THE INVESTOR AT THE TIME, OR THAT MIGHT OCCUR AFTER THE INVESTMENT HAS BEEN MADE

  25. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    Georgie Porgie at 11 :33 AM

    Georgie Porgie, you came on BU to have fun.
    My retorts may have appeared to you to be put downs. That was not my intention. I too find fun in the cut and thrusts of the submissions. So please relax. I do not expect you to be an economist and I hope I did not attempt to pass myself off as a Medical Practitioner. So relax.

  26. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    ROI is usually expressed as a percentage and is typically used for personal financial decisions, to compare a company’s profitability or to compare the efficiency of different investments. The return on investment formula is: ROI = (Net Profit / Cost of Investment) x 100.

  27. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Bernard Codrington February 21, 2018 at 11:32 AM #

    I do not want to re-invent the wheel. As I have pointed out, the conventions are that maths are linear, once discovered it remains the same; in science this is not the case. Science is always regarded as the state of knowledge, until another experiment comes along to overthrow it (Copernicus, Galileo, Isaac Newton, Einstein, t al) Scientists once taught the earth was flat.
    I suggest you read Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolution, and Karl Popper’s Conjectures and Refutations for analyses of paradigm shifts in science.
    We have had a number of great scientific discoveries (penicillin, saccharin, Teflon, etc) which came about through unexpected discoveries; in mathematics you cannot do that; calculations do not come about by chance.
    You talk about physics and chemistry, the natural sciences, that is why I say economics is not a science, even if mathematicians have tried since the 1930s to turn it in to one.
    The outcome, as you well now, is that so-called econometrics have gone on its jolly way totally oblivious to what is happening in real economies – giving rise to the birth of applied economics. There is no way of scientifically testing economic ideas as if in a laboratory (remember the 364 economists who in 1981 wrote a letter to the Times challenging Margaret Thatcher’s Budget? You would not get that with physicists or nuclear scientists). Pick any debate you like: monetarists versus neoKeynesians, for example, where is the ‘science’ in the arguments?
    I hope we are not going to repeat those debates held by much sharper minds than yours and mine.

  28. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    Georgie at 12 : 10 PM

    Good. Mission accomplished.

  29. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Georgie Porgie February 21, 2018 at 12:21 PM #

    I really appreciate your advice, but I try to look beyond BU to the wider Bajan public. I am also a born contrarian and dislike the mob. I am not an organisation man. But thanks, again.

  30. Dr. Simple Simon Avatar
    Dr. Simple Simon

    @Frustrated Businessman: Animal Farm sequel playing out in Bim. February 20, 2018 at 11:12 AM “DLP gov’t graft is widely discussed in local and foreign business circles with supporting whattsapp and e-mail messages circulated among colleagues.”

    You mean that the political class is so brazen as to solicit graft in writing?

  31. Dr. Simple Simon Avatar
    Dr. Simple Simon

    @Georgie Porgie February 21, 2018 at 1:08 PM “HOW MANY HERE HAVE CHANGED ANYTHING IN BARBADOS OR ANYWHERE ELSE?.”

    Matthew 6:4 “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their reward.”

    @Georgie Porgie February 21, 2018 at 1:08 PM “WE HAD TWO GREAT BIBLE EXPOSITORS HERE WHO WERE RUN OFF.”

    They were not run off. They chose to leave. Soft men.

  32. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Georgie Porgie February 21, 2018 at 1:08 PM #

    Again wise words, which are very much appreciated.
    I am not here looking for validation of any kind, or a job with any organisation, so the loud mouths and those who have never had to work in the real world pick a fight with the wrong guy.
    Like you, I am a Bajan, and I have had the rum shop experience. I have had an enjoyable working life in my chosen trade, and was head hunted for many of my positions, so somebody needed me. So, it is water off a duck’s back.

  33. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    Dr. Simple Simon at 1 :24 PM

    Are you sure you are not a real Ph D? If it were in my power ,I would give you a DD. Your quotation is very apt….. even if applies to me. LOL.

  34. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    RE @Georgie Porgie February 21, 2018 at 1:08 PM “WE HAD TWO GREAT BIBLE EXPOSITORS HERE WHO WERE RUN OFF.”

    They were not run off. They chose to leave. Soft men.

    IF YOU RUN OFF YOU ARE SOFT? I DOUBT IT! THEY PROBABLY HAVE SOMETHING BETTER TO DO WITH THEIR TIME………UNLIKE ME.

    WHAT IS THE POINT OF YOUR QUOTATION FROM MATHEW?
    HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO MISQUOTE THE SCRIPTURE AND I AM NOT ABLE TO QUOTE IT?

    SURELY THAT IS NOT WHAT THE LORD CALLED RIGHTEOUS JUDGEMENT IN JOHN 7

    Hal Austin February 21, 2018 at 1:28 PM #

    I DO UNDERSTAND YOU…………DO LIKE JOHN …….SAY WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY AND RUN THEM RAGGED!

    REMEMBER THAT THEIR AD HOMINEMS ARE THE ZENITH OF THEIR ABILITY! THAT IS WHAT I HAVE COME TO REALIZE

  35. Dr. Simple Simon Avatar
    Dr. Simple Simon

    http://createthegood.org/volunteer/opportunity-details/109329
    Hospice and Palliative Care Volunteer
    Covenant Care is seeking volunteers to provide companionship, emotional support and practical help for hospice and palliative care patients and family members who reside at home, in skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities and hospice inpatient care centers.

    Volunteers are also needed to provide bereavement support for family members following the death of a loved one. Our volunteer schedules are flexible and you may choose to volunteer during week days, at night or on the weekend. As our volunteer your time requirement is based on patient/family need and your availability. This may range from two to eight hours a month. Your experience in MEDICINE and HEALTHCARE, as a PHYSICIAN, nurse, social worker, counselor, or CHAPLAIN will be invaluable to our organization.

    Volunteer screening and training are required. If you are looking for opportunities in end-of-life care we hope that you will join the Covenant volunteer team!

  36. lawson Avatar
    lawson

    Hal I know a guy who sold a 100 unit building for a dollar and the reason was simple, he had written off the property against taxes for so many years that there was no value there

  37. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    lawson February 21, 2018 at 6:44 PM #

    Absolutely. Valuation is like the curate’s egg. Some time ago an Eastern European woman bought a house in what we call Millionaire’s Row; I think the asking price was £7m, but, she claimed, she liked it so much she offered a couple million over the asking price.
    We also have a foreign owner of a football club who rumour has it would go in to the dressing room after every victory and give the players a bonus of £50000 – these were players many of whom were earning a six-figure sum every week. He did so until ordered to stop by the Football Association.
    It is fine reading a book about these things, but something else in the real world.

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