Looks like fundies are lined up for a call on Thursday Street...

Looks like fundies are lined up for a call on Thursday

Street Talk
How to torch fragile minority investors, Freedom Foods style
Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Tim Boyd June 24, 2020 – 9.32pm

Here’s one for the ASX.Freedom Foods, a perennial disappointer, started Wednesday with news its long-standing and well-known chief executive officer Rory Macleod was on leave, it had a new executive chairman and an acting CEO.Freedom Foods chief executive Rory Macleod has gone on leave pending a further announcement.

Freedom’s brief 101-word release said it would make another announcement early next week. It came one day after the chief financial officer, Campbell Nicholas, resigned.Well, it's fair to say already fragile minority investors shot first and will ask questions later.

All of a sudden, fears about factoring and accounts receivables were rehashed, fundies were quick to point out the company's big capital expenditure program without much return to date, and recall stories about Freedom's big shareholder, the Perich family.

In nearly five hours of madness, $60 million of shares changed hands, the stock dropped as much as 22 per cent, and short-sellers came out of the woodwork. Then, with the stock down 14.5 per cent on strong volume, Freedom went into a trading halt citing an announcement regarding its financial performance.It was a complete farce.

With damage already done, fundies are lined up for a call on Thursday. They want to know what's going on on all fronts; with Macleod, with the financial performance, with Wednesday's trading debacle.If Freedom Foods opens the lines, it's sure to be a show.