WESTFIELD THREATENS TO PUSH ALLIED BRANDS LTD INTO BANKRUPTCY FOR FAILED LOCATIONS

Shopping Centre owner Westfield has yesterday reportedly threatened Allied Brands Ltd. (ABQ) management with a bankruptcy petition, sources inside the company say.

A large number of company-owned but failed Kenny's Cardiology, Baskin Robbins, and Cookieman locations are in Westfield Shopping Centres in Australia and New Zealand. ABQ has previously announced closure of 15 or more Kenny's shops, without yet disclosing what they plan to do with all the failed Baskin and Cookieman locations.

Westfield apparently says that Allied Brands is heavily in arrears on these company-owned locations, and attempts to reach a settlement have been stonewalled by ABQ management.

Estimates of more than $6 million have been made as to the failed shop liabilities and windup costs for these locations. Allied Brands has access to virtually no cash, and apparently Westfield are considering pushing the company into bankruptcy. It's unclear why ABQ management won't even take their calls.

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.

AUSTRALIA BASKIN ROBBINS FAILURE RATE OVER 5 TIMES GREATER THAN AMERICAN OR KOREAN OR JAPANESE B-R SHOPS

In a recent publication, the continued collapse in Allied Brands ability to select Baskin Robbins franchisees and locations continues to be exposed.

In the USA, Baskin Robbins home market, the SBA-tracked failure rate is a commendable 7%. (Click here to read)

In Australia, the failure rate has been a staggering 37% the last few years.

This includes all the Baskin Robbins shops that have technically failed (franchisee ejected or walked away or deported back to Korea) although Allied Brands continues to pretend to operate them, at a stunning loss.

The current annual report shows a staggering $3,700,000 in "Assets Held for Resale", a ten-times increase from last year. These are failed Baskin Robbins shops, unsold Baskin Robbins shops, and shops that Allied Brands is running under (horrific) management and massive cash burn. The big question - how are failed shops, and shops no one wants worth ANYTHING? If this asset was valued properly, Allied Brands likely would be showing a huge loss.

Franchisees uniformly point to the gouging by Allied Brands for the imported ice cream, and were stunned to read that despite the published reasons for this cost increase (exchange rate fluctuations), the annual report shows a profit to Allied Brands of $247,000 on foreign exchange trading! As the primary international purchasing done by Allied Brands is only to supply the Baskin Robbins brand, this report proves conclusively that Allied Brands were (and continue to) be systematically lying to the Baskin Robbins franchisees, grossly overcharging them during an economic downturn, all while pocketing a huge bonanza and giving massive bonuses to the managers involved!

An unconscionable action generating profits that still couldn't stem the massive losses caused by Baskin Robbins management's horrific decisionmaking!

One would think that chairman Lachlan Mcintosh, a director at bankruptcy firm Korda Mentha, would recognise dodgy accounting that is regularly exposed in failed companies. What's being done isn't just walking a fine line, it's well over the line of propriety and continuous disclosure required for public companies.

The "cover up" of this massive failure rate is just one of the lies of omission being told in the Allied Brands annual report. It is these lies from the company that are the subject of reported shouting matches between auditor Hacketts and the company. And now a new "financial controller" --- with no word on what became of the previous one. Perhaps starting to realise that these lies, under investigation by the ASIC and ASX, are what are known as "indictable offenses" that will result in gaol time. To the last financial controller, or to the new one? Or both?

COOKIES LOADED WITH RATS! NSW GOVERNMENT PENALTY NOTICE FOR COOKIEMAN, MIRANDA

The New South Wales government has now published the results of food safety inspections in the Sydney area.

Of course we find a CookieMan shop listed for having rodent infestation. Usually, franchise businesses have frequent inspections from the franchise company that are more intensive than the occasional government inspection. So how can such a major rodent infestation go on for so long, ignored by the franchisor Allied Brands and CookieMan, until finally the franchisee is given an infringement notice?

READ THE REPORT HERE

It seems that same standards of franchisee support for Baskin Robbins shops (NONE) is now the standard with CookieMan since Allied Brands took control of the CookieMan company. Franchisees have complained of "never seeing anyone" from the company, with the result that ALL the franchisees suffer from the lack of standards at Allied Brands. Franchisees PAY for standards. They just don't get them.

There is also a report of huge rat infestation at 36 Seabeach Avenue, Mermaid Beach Queensland. This is likely just Allied Brands management, however.