ALLIED Group said yesterday that the extensive investigation into its affairs and the subsequent release of the 688-page Allen Report was forcing the management to spend an unacceptable amount of time explaining the situation to potential partners.
''It is quite difficult for them to understand in a relatively short time something that's been going on for nearly two years,'' said chief executive and president Brian O'Connor, adding that there had been no impact on dealings involving Allied bankers.
''We explain it the best we can. If people are serious about doing deals with us, we provide them with whatever information they need, including access to our lawyers,'' he said.
Mr O'Connor said there really wasn't anything more the company could add to a six-paragraph statement about the investigation into its affairs contained in the 1993 annual report.
''We would prefer that the investigation was over because clearly it takes up a considerable amount of management time and we clearly want to get on with business,'' he said, after the annual general meetings yesterday of Allied Group, Allied Properties and Allied Industries.
Earlier this month, the South China Morning Post reported that regulators from the Securities and Futures Commission were ready to seek compensation for investors in Allied Group companies by taking the case to the Takeovers and Mergers Panel.
The move was aimed at compensating shareholders who had been disadvantaged by share trading methods in the companies at the time Lee Ming Tee was controlling shareholder and chairman.