Colina Holdings Bahamas Limited

What it is

Colina Holdings Bahamas Limited (CHBL) is a holding company incorporated in 1993 whose subsidiaries provide financial services through the production, distribution, and administration of insurance and investment products. Its flagship subsidiary, Colina Insurance Limited, is The Bahamas’ largest life and health insurer.

The group’s other arms include Colina Financial Advisors Ltd. (CFAL), a leading investment-management and pension-administration firm; Colina General Insurance Agency & Brokers Limited; and Indigo Insurance, a digital property and casualty insurer operating in The Bahamas and the Cayman Islands. The ordinary shares of the company are listed on the Bahamas International Securities Exchange.

Who owns it

Approximately 58.1% of the company’s issued ordinary shares are owned by AF Holdings Ltd. (“AFH”), with 41.9% held by the Bahamian public. AF Holdings’ principals are Emanuel Alexiou and Anthony Ferguson.

A.M. Best has affirmed a Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) for Colina Insurance Limited and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb-” for CHBL.

The affirmations reflect Colina’s leading position in the Bahamian life and health market and strong risk-adjusted capitalisation, partially offset by a narrow geographic profile.

Who runs it

Emanuel M. Alexiou serves as Chairman of the Board of Colina Holdings Bahamas Limited.

He is also CEO of Colina Insurance Limited and holds the title of Executive Vice-Chairman of CHBL. He is an attorney licensed to practise in The Bahamas, England & Wales, and the Turks & Caicos Islands.

The board includes Andrew Alexiou, Anthony Ferguson, Terence Hilts, Willie Moss, Earle Bethell, Sandra Knowles, Glenn Bannister, Phaedra Mackey-Knowles, and Richard Letarte. A CFO or finance director is not individually named in available public disclosures.

The money, in plain words

CHBL earned BSD 39.2 million (US$39 mn) — about $39.2 million — for ordinary shareholders in 2024, or $1.59 per share, up from $32.3 million in 2023. On our calculation, the group kept about 20 cents of profit from every dollar of total income — a net margin of 20.3% — and earned roughly 17 cents back for every dollar that ordinary shareholders have invested, a return on equity of 17.4%; both figures are strong for a regional insurer.

The insurance service result — the pure profit from writing policies before investment income is counted — surged to $15.3 million in 2024 from just $4.4 million in 2023, driven by lower claims costs and higher premiums. Total assets stood at $887.4 million at December 31, 2024, with invested assets comprising more than 73.5% of that total.

Shareholders’ equity — the owners’ cushion — reached $265.3 million after paying BSD 6.4 million (US$6 mn) in ordinary dividends and BSD 2.4 million (US$2 mn) to preference shareholders. At the current BISX share price of BSD 17.00, (US$17)the stock trades at 7.7 times earnings and yields 3.1% — inexpensive by the standards of well-capitalised Caribbean insurers.

What it is doing now

In mid-2025 CHBL completed the acquisition of Saxon Holding Company Ltd. and Saxon Administration Ltd., both based in the Cayman Islands, marking a significant expansion of the group’s regional footprint in property and casualty insurance and pension administration. Full-year 2025 net income attributable to ordinary shareholders reached BSD 60.1 million (US$60 mn) ($2.43 per share), up sharply from $42.3 million ($1.71) in 2024.

Total assets climbed to $988.5 million by December 31, 2025 — up from $886.7 million a year earlier — with invested assets comprising 72.7% of the total. The group is approaching its first billion dollars in assets, almost entirely through organic growth and selective regional deals rather than leverage.

What to watch

• Investment-income volatility. Net investment income of $59.3 million in 2024 included BSD 24.8 million (US$25 mn) of unrealised mark-to-market gains — paper gains that move with markets and can reverse. The underlying insurance business is increasingly the steadier engine.
• Saxon integration. The acquisition significantly expands CHBL’s regional footprint and strengthens its capabilities in property and casualty insurance and pension administration. Execution risk in absorbing a Cayman-based group is real but manageable given CHBL’s existing island presence.
• Concentration. A narrow geographic profile in The Bahamas means hurricane seasons and domestic economic cycles hit earnings harder than they would for a diversified multinational insurer.
• Ownership structure. With AF Holdings controlling 58.1% of ordinary shares, minority investors have limited sway — a governance feature common to family-controlled Caribbean groups that some institutional investors price as a discount.

This is news, not investment advice.