ALLIED BRANDS ANNUAL MEETING - COMPANY LIES AND SPINS, ANGRY SHARE OWNERS CALL MANAGEMENT LIARS, ASK WHERE WENT ALL THAT CASH???

Despite the spin and press releases from Allied Brands Ltd. (ABQ) touting "strong sales" and "increased profits", angry shareholders yesterday called management on the lies and deceit of the last several years.

In one example, ABQ management said sales at Baskin Robbins had "strongly increased" by 12%. Since this is after a 25% across-the-board pricing increase forced on franchisees, clearly this shows that sales are actually tracking backwards.

A shareholder said the market has "lost confidence" in management after being told LIE AFTER LIE. Likewise another shareholder said that brokers had begun to see thru the lies told by the company, and a flood of negative information available about the company was being "covered up" by management. One example was that the number of retail locations predicted to be opened is never achieved by the company, going back five years. One shareholder called management's continually announced plans for new shops "fairy tales".

One director called a questioning shareholder a "dickhead" for pointing out how little detailed information was being released by the company compared to competitor Retail Brands (RFG). Management refused to answer any more of this shareholder's questions, threatening to eject him from the meeting.

It was also noted that the predicted per-share profit, still substantially below what was predicted for the YE June 30 2009, was now spread over almost twice the number of shares that had been dumped on the market.

Where did all this cash go? No one seems to know. The company refused to answer.

NO ETHICS - - THE CORNERSTONE OF ALLIED BRANDS!

ALLIED BRANDS MASSIVE ICE CREAM PRICING INCREASES TAKE ANOTHER VICTIM - ALL BASKIN ROBBINS SHOPS IN THAILAND TO CLOSE IMMEDIATELY!

Allied Brands Ltd, (ABQ) who used a brief dip in the AU $ exchange rate to rape shop owners with a 35% price increase on imported AND domestic products, have seen this strategy take down 44 shops in one hit.

Baskin Robbins franchisor for Thailand, Centara today announced closure of all 44 Baskin Robbins shops in Thailand, with a loss of some 700 jobs.

ANNOUNCEMENT HERE

Thailand Baskin Robbins shops have seen the same abusive price increases that have been imposed by Allied Brands in Australia. The result of this strategy is clear - - -

COLLAPSE OF THE CHAIN.

Australian franchisees have expressed horror that the ice cream pricing has been used to prop up Allied Brands corporate spending, company cars, lavish lunches, and corporate boxes at horse and car races. The closure of Baskin Robbins shops in Australia will now accelerate as the folly of this pricing abuse by Allied Brands becomes clear.

BEN & JERRY'S ON THE ATTACK IN AUSTRALIA - BASKIN ROBBINS NO WHERE TO BE FOUND

American Ice Cream Powerhouse franchise Ben & Jerry's have this week arrived in Australia, with huge media hype and powerful, high-end products to match.

In stories about the new competitor, Baskin Robbins is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND! Relegated to the cheapie market alongside Wendy's, except that Baskin Robbins shops have massively overpriced product! Such is the "terrific job" done by Allied Brands for the 18 years they have driven this once-proud brand into the muck.

And note that Baskin Robbins has had two failed beachside locations at Manley. Clearly unable to compete even before the arrival of Ben & Jerry's.

ALLIED BRANDS SHARE PRICE MANIPULATION CONTINUES?

With Allied Brands Ltd. (ABQ) shares continuing to slide in response to their inability to source ice cream for their angry franchisees, attempts are apparently underway again at the company to "prop up" the share price.

With shares trading at 13.5 cents the last two days (keep in mind these shares were originally issued at 45 cents), the share price rocketed up to 14.5 cents in early trading today.

ON 100 SHARES TRADED!

That's right, someone paid a trading commission ($20 or more) to trade 100 shares, worth $14.50.

This kind of shady dealing has occurred previously with Allied Brands Ltd. shares, usually in conjunction with some kind of bullshit announcement.

Once again the shoddy ethics of this company are on view for all to see. Korda Mentha partners, take notice!

THE END IS NEAR FOR BASKIN ROBBINS AUSTRALIA AS STOCK DWINDLES

Franchisees today were shocked to be told that

Allied Brands Ltd and

Baskin Robbins Australia are

OUT OF VANILLA ICE CREAM.

This leaves the shops access to less than 12 flavours.

OUT OF VANILLA?

THE END IS NEAR.

ALLIED BRANDS SHARES CONTINUE SLIDE AS ASX ACTS AGAINST ILLEGAL ACTIONS BY DIRECTORS

Despite massive open market Allied Brands Ltd share purchases (activity that accounts for most of the activity in the shares on the nominated dates) by Chairman and Director Lachlan McIntosh recently, the share price continues to collapse as word of the critical Baskin Robbins supply problems circulates from the franchisees to the general public.

A company like Korda Mentha is well aware of all the trickery and deceit that goes on by directors desperate to avoid a collapse of their company. Will Korda Mentha have any fiduciary responsibility to the franchisees and share holders when Allied Brands collapses? Korda Mentha partners have been blocked in accessing daily information about Allied Brands Ltd. on their company computers - a firewall that would do the Chinese communists proud! Information still is coming from these disgruntled partners who are witnessing the tarnishing of what was formerly their good name.

This collapse comes on top of court orders exposing more LIES by Allied Brands, which has been systematically withholding important information from the ASX that are leading to court sanctions against the Directors and senior Management.

ALLIED BRANDS TRYING DODGY INVESTMENT COMPANIES FOR BAILOUT CASH - ASX AND ASIC AGAIN INVOLVED

In addition to Elders Corporate and Leadenhall VRG, management at Allied Brands Ltd (ABQ) and executives tied to Korda Mentha have been trolling for money at the most dodgy money lenders in Australia. Desperate to get more operating capital, Allied Brands is now talking to Tricom Futures Services P/L.

Tricom has been the subject of numerous ASX complaints and ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS. Recently the ASX Disciplinary Tribunal said of Tricom, "The Appeals Tribunal regards the actions of Tricom Futures as a serious contravention of the Operating Rules". What Tricom has been caught doing is "cooking the books". ABQ could teach them a thing or two about dodgy accounting.

Banned Tricom employee Peter Cameron is rumoured to be in on the scheme to secure more cash for Allied and sources inside claim he has been seen there with management. Cameron has been BANNED by ASIC and the ASX for stock manipulation of penny and illiquid shares, much like the situation at Allied Brands where shares are bid up at the close of the day. It's still being investigated by ASIC if his manipulations have extended to the bizarre trading pattern at Allied Brands Ltd.

And all while this nonsense is going on, executive management are attempting to lease new expensive cars from CARFLEET, already spending the recently-raised cash. CARFLEET is looking askance at the attempted finance of these new, unnecessary vehicles.

A big "hello" to all the blog readers at Korda Mentha. Note that your email is being tapped by your company, so send your tips from home!

ALLIED "MEGA DEAL" COLLAPSES, ANNOUNCES INSTEAD JUNK "PURCHASE" OF ANOTHER FAILED COFFEE SHOP CHAIN AND MORE CAPITAL RAISING FOR OPERATIONS

As reported in SMART COMPANY, the "big deal" that Allied Brands claimed was being negotiated has failed to materialise. Insiders report that financiers necessary for this "big deal" rejected the idea after reviewing the poor state of Allied Brands balance sheet, with cash still bleeding to support crashed operations. This has included Elders Corporate, which reportedly rejected the deal earlier in the week.

Instead, Allied Brands purchased the parallel coffee shop/homewares division of Freedom Furniture, Bayswiss. Freedom, a SUCCESSFUL company with a much better offering than Villa & Hut, was so anxious to divest these coffee shops that they GAVE THEM to Allied Brands for NOTHING! This a huge turnaround from 2003, when Freedom Management said that "Bayswiss is number one growth vehicle". From that to giving the stores away to Allied Brands, the franchise garbage collectors of Australia. But for the Allied Brands formula, which is designed to overcharge, squeeze, crush, intimidate, and churn the franchisees instead of servicing them, nuturing them, and growing them, a failed chain of coffee shops is ripe for the plucking. Wait until the Bayswiss franchisees find out how much Allied Brands is planning to "overcharge" them for rebranding their stores. It's called Franchisor Rape, mates. Enjoy it!

So immoral has Allied Brands become that places like the Southport School are now ashamed to be in the company of these directors.

And Allied, embarrassed by the collapse of the "big deal" that they were touting, is now spinning this Freedom Bayswiss deal as a "great thing". It's a great disaster, that's what it is.

Buy one overleveraged, failed concept (Villa & Hut's 26 stores), combine it with another 13 failed stores so burdening Freedom that they GAVE them to Allied Brands so that could get these cash burns off the Freedom books, and announce to the world about your "big score" of 13 more junk operations, sucking cash from the company.

It's vintage Peter Graham bullshit. Staff can't even walk around the offices at the Gold Coast there's so much bullshit in the hallways. This will make the second "big deal" that Allied Brands has failed to close (the first being the insane Wendy's acquisition, which couldn't be funded even with money flying out of the banks).

The final hoot is Shane Radbone's claim that Allied Brands will be the home of "entrepreneurs who don't know how to franchise". IT ALREADY IS HOME TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO FRANCHISE! Baskin Robbins failed operations (over a 15 year period) are testament to this failure!

Baskin Robbins promised 200+ locations in 2004. The number has hovered in the 80's for a dozen years or more, with more stores being lost just these last few weeks. When will Allied Brands learn how to franchise???

As always, victims are the franchisees for the Freedom/Bayswiss locations who will be told that they are "required" to rebrand and accept massive pricing increases from Allied Brands. The same immoral strategy that Radbone is now calling the "Franchise Services Division". The only service is to the pockets of select Allied Brands management, with the franchisees left to rot.