The three remaining directors of Angostura Holdings Ltd resigned yesterday.
Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards, Gerard Cooper, and Tricia Coosal resigned on Tuesday and yesterday, Dr Sterling Frost, Franka Costelloe and chairman Terrence Bharath resigned, company sources told Guardian Media.
The company is listed on the T&T Stock Exchange, and the material change of the directors’s resignation is expected to be officially announced shortly.
Their resignations came after it was reported in the media that the board said it would continue to serve in the best interest of the shareholders of the rum and bitters company.
Last week, during a post-Cabinet news conference, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar called on state board directors to resign.
“I want to tell all boards who are refusing to resign and the CEOs and management of state enterprises who are busy signing off contracts and hiring friends and family, I tell them every contract they’ve entered into will be sent straight to the Anti-Corruption Investigation Bureau. So every person and every company involved will be investigated.
“This is the most shameless type of behaviour I’ve ever seen exhibited during a change of government. It is overt, it is bold-faced and trying to eat-ah-food down to the wire and after you’ve passed the finish line—it doesn’t work like that,” said Persad-Bissessar, adding that the Government has plans to deal with board members who are refusing to step down.
Bharath Angoustra’s former chairman told Guardian Media on Thursday that the board had no intention of fighting anyone for positions on the Angostura board.
Bharath said the board at the time intended to be civil, cooperative and act in the best interest of the company’s 2,400 shareholders.
Corporation Sole owns 29.97 per cent of Angostura Holdings Ltd, on behalf of the State.
Angostura’s largest shareholder is Rumpro Company, which owns 44.97 per cent of the Laventille-headquartered company. Rumpro is owned by CL Financial, a group that is in liquidation.
Guardian Media reached out to Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo, Angostura’s line minister, to ask when a new board would be reinstated, but no answer was forthcoming up to press time.
In April, Angostura declared a profit of $144.26 million for its financial year ended December 31, 2024, which was 5.07 per cent less than the $151.98 million it reported in 2023.
In the company’s financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024, former chairman Terrence Bharath said, “For the third consecutive year, we have surpassed the billion-dollar revenue milestone, achieving total revenue of $1.06 billion, a 1 per cent increase over the prior fiscal year.”
