Charlies juices through the shareholder cash

I have never liked Marc Ellis or his schoolboy type self promotion. It is very hit and miss.

While managing to garner alot of attention for short period of time, Ellis' promotional activities lack substance and I doubt do well in the long term for the business or product being promoted.

His university degree is in commerce at Otago University, majoring in marketing and management, so there is no surprise as to why marketing is at the forefront of his business regime.

His Charlies Group Juice Company [CHA.NZX] seems to be a case in point.

The announcement last week of a NZ$425,000 FY loss to June 2008 mounts on top of other losses incurred since it listed in 2005.

Charlie's was started in 1999 by Stefan Lepionka, Marc Ellis and Simon Neal and has grown rapidly in sales since its listing but has failed to sustain any profitable growth.

Its sales come from its Charlies brand juices and a number of other brands, in New Zealand and Australia.

Charlies seems to have the Burger Fuel or 42 Below approach to business-growth without profit- but that runs at odds with the way most business operates and the way I like the businesses that I own to run-at a profit, for the majority of the time.

I might have this all wrong though, as I could with Burger Fuel.

Charlies might be a big company in the making or a business that Ellis and his mates will flog off to a large conglomerate like Coca Cola Amatil [CCL.ASX] as one of Marc's fellow directors Stefan Lepionka did with his Stefan's Orange Juice which was purchased by Frucor Beverages in 1997.

However, there has been little sign of a good sustained profit thus far and they seem to be chewing through shareholder funds rapidly in the objective to grow yet bigger.

I would love to be proven wrong.


Related Share Investor Reading

Know your market
Marketing Burger Fuel's future
Pumpkin Patch VS Burger Fuel
MHI has defined growth strategy

c Share Investor 2008

Injunction seeks to stop Labour MPs passing ETS bill

An application for an injunction to stop the Fraudulent Emissions Trading Bill has been organised by Basil Walker.

Please have a look at the application. It is one of the most damaging bills that have ever been contemplated in NZs political history.

An application to the High Court in Wellington by Basil Walker of Queenstown for an injunction to prevent Labour MPs enacting the Emissions Trading Bill will be heard on 22 September.

The injunction is sought "to prevent injustice and to enhance the viability and future productive capacity of the national of New Zealand and its business and citizens."

LINK to download pdf file of text of injunction then LINK here to download pdf of applicant's affidavit.

Related Links

NZ Climate Science Coalition

c Political Animal 2008

BREAKING NEWS: Peters stood down

Winston Peters has finally been stood down.

It has taken 24 hrs from the time that Helen Clark revealed to media that she knew about Peters lies 6 months ago, when Owen Glenn told her Winston Peters had received $100,000 from the billionaire to "stand down" the politician and it has taken 6 months in total for Clark to do anything about the scandal.

Today's move by Ms Clark was a leisurely one.

What should have been done with immediacy and efficiency instead was executed incompetently and arrogantly-by both Clark and Peters.

Meanwhile Clark will take over Peter's portfolios and will still be able to use his and his NZ First Party's votes to pass the fraudulent Emissions Trading Bill.

Labour's Emissions Trading Bill, when passed into law, will cost individual Kiwis thousands of dollars a year because of the extra taxes that the Government will be able to foist on the population to "combat (fraudulent) climate change".

The fact that Ms Clark is not prepared to put off this immensely negative bill in the face of one of her cabinet players having corruption charges swirling around him, only shows the continued arrogance and high-handedness that started with her cover-up of Peter's guilt 6 long months ago.

Sadly we have become ever so used to this style of politics from our current Prime Minister.

c Political Animal 2008

Winston Peters: Finally taken seriously

It looks like Winston Peters is about to be cast into political oblivion today.

In the light of the various donation scandals surrounding him a Serious Fraud Office investigation into those scandals an an H-Bomb dropped by the Prime Minister yesterday that she had evidence of Peters lies, it looks like Peters political career is at an end.


I say looks like, because in a political poll out yesterday Peters was polling over 5% in the preferred Prime Minister stakes and if that was translated on election day then Peters and his party would be back in Parliament.


His supporters, older Kiwis, are likely to galvanise support for him , whatever he does because they all share Peter's victim mentality, so we could see him again if the SFO inquiry doesnt get him.

Most Kiwis though will be glad to see the back of him.

All to often Kiwis have treated Peters as a joke and the last 6 months we have all seemed to laugh along with him-and nothing has happened , up to this point.

That is partly why he has survived in politics as long as he has, we do not take him seriously.

What he has been up to over the last 6 months isn't a joke though.

He has lied to Parliament and a Privileges Committee, dodged questions over his secret donations and made a mockery of our Parliament, our democracy, and ultimately our country.

If we had taken him seriously Winston Peters would have been sacked along time ago and he would be in prison. That is what happens in other real democracies that take these things seriously.

Helen Clark should also be facing a Privileges Committee hearing over her cover-up.

c Political Animal 2008