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Monday, July 6, 2009

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RND anticipates value decline for Abaco property By VERNON CLEMENT JONES ~ Guardian Business Editor ~ vernon@nasguard.com: RND Holdings is anticipating a positive end of a fiscal year-end report due out in August — although waiting on the valuation of an Abaco property expected to take a hit. "It's because of the current market forces and I'm almost certain we are going to take a hit," company CEO Kenneth Donathan told Guardian Business Tuesday. "We're waiting on the valuation results." He points specifically to the Abaco building the company constructed as a movie theater but which now sits empty. Its rake seating and other cinema infrastructure have been sold off, the company unable to find a renter in the movie biz. The bigger problem has been finding a buyer willing to take on the necessary internal construction needed to reconfigure the property from its intended use as multi-plex to whatever it is they need it to be. More recently, the recession and its effects on property value, particularly in the Family Islands, has factored in to Donathan's expectations for a value drop. The fears are not unfounded. Last month, Guardian Business highlighted realtor assessments that Out Island properties had suffered as much as a 30 percent hit over the last 18 months. That coincides with a double-digit decline in air arrival numbers for the destination. A usually buoyant Abaco market has not been spared, with demand for its commercial space also dropping. RND, a publicly held company with both a commercial rental property division and electronic ticketing and reservations unit, has been seeking a buyer for some two years now, said Donathan. The likelihood of a negative reassessment of the Abaco building may be the one dampening factor playing into year-end results due for release in August. Still, the company has actually fared better than most. For the nine months ended November 30, 2009 — results released earlier this month — the company reported a net income jump of $213k, compared to the year-ago period. Added to that, the company's property holdings in Nassau and Freeport continue to perform, likely helping to compensate for any shortcomings in Abaco. Wednesday, June 24, 2009