After the oil crisis, all walks of life in Hong Kong are in trouble, and the toy industry and the plastic industry are the hardest hit areas. Originally, the profits were not high, but now the raw materials have skyrocketed, and there is even a shortage, so for a time some factories were on the verge of bankruptcy.

In this difficult time, CK Industries Group has given full play to its role as an industry leader and announced the 'parity' supply of various plastic raw materials to its Hong Kong counterparts to tide over the difficulties together.

All of a sudden, the factory owners of the entire toy, plastic flower and plastic industries have survived, and these industries in Hong Kong have also 'developed against the market' and continue to consolidate their position as the world's leaders.

And Lin Zhichao himself has naturally received a lot of praise, and the Hong Kong Chinese leader deserves it.

Cheung Kong Industries Group.

Lin Zhichao is listening to the work reports of Wang Liang, deputy general manager of the group, and Lu Bensheng, general manager of Changjiang Trading.

"If we go all out to supply cheap raw materials to our factory owners, how long will we be able to hold on?"

Lu Bensheng immediately said: "We have to consider reserving raw materials for Cheung Kong Industrial Group for one year, and then fully supply Hong Kong's plastic raw materials, which can last for about 3~6 months." ”

Lin Zhichao said: "Reserve eight months of our own supply, and the rest will be supplied to peers at a reasonable price." The oil crisis is expected to be only half a year, but it is impossible for prices to fall again, and materials will rise again. However, the added value of our products is higher, and we have a better life than our peers. ”

His wealth is already very high, and he needs more influence to lead Hong Kong's toy and plastic industries to continue to increase their influence in the world.

It's a social responsibility!

Lu Bensheng immediately said: "I understand what the boss meant!" ”

Wang Liang also said: "This time, we have prepared hundreds of millions of yuan worth of plastic raw materials in the warehouse, and if they are sold at market prices, we can make a profit of tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars." The boss is in the position of an industry leader to make the decision of affordable supply, which is bound to make Hong Kong's related industries more influential in the world, and these business owners have recently expressed their gratitude to you. ”

Lin Zhichao said calmly: "I predicted that the Middle East would not be calm last year, so I just did it. If the bet is right, avoid a major blow to the industry and give everyone a period of relaxation; If the bet is wrong, we have no loss, and we can use up the materials. ”

Indeed, he had nothing to lose at all.

With his identity, there is no need to speculate on raw materials to make money, he has done it before.

Wang Liang nodded, and then he said, "That's right, boss." Canadian Imperial Bank Managing Director Henry Stark will come to Hong Kong next week, and I'll arrange for you to meet then. ”

Lin Zhichao nodded and said, "Be grand, this matter is very important to me!" ”

Wang Liang said seriously: "No problem! We have been working with Canadian Imperial Bank for many years and have a good relationship. ”

In the early years, Changjiang Industrial Group introduced plastic flowers into North America through a daily necessities wholesaler in North America; And the cooperative bank of the largest wholesaler of daily necessities in North America is the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

After years of getting along, everyone has a good relationship.

At the invitation of Lin Zhichao, Henry Stark, President of Canadian Imperial Bank, visited Cheung Kong Asset Group in Hong Kong to prepare for its listing in Toronto. The so-called listing is to issue a part of the new shares on the Toronto stock market to raise funds and obtain the status of a third listing.

If Cheung Kong Asset Group wants to develop, it needs to raise more funds to buy assets. Therefore, Lin Zhichao will try various ways such as issuing new shares to raise funds and loans.

A week later.

Victoria Harbour Centre.

"Welcome President Henry to Hong Kong!"

"Mr. Lin, it's a pleasure to see you again!"

Lin Zhichao and Canadian Imperial Bank Henry Stark met again amicably, and the two knew each other.

In recent years, after Canada tasted the sweetness of Hong Kong immigration, Canadian provinces have set up offices in Hong Kong to handle immigration matters, and swept away a lot of Hong Kong's assets.

At the same time, Hong Kong has become an international metropolis, and enterprises from all over the world have come to Hong Kong to set up branches, which is a general trend.

"Such a beautiful skyscraper must be Mr. Lin's property!" Standing in the square of the building, Henry said with a sigh.

"President Henry is right, this is indeed a skyscraper that I have invested nearly 100 million US dollars in, and it is also the tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong and even Asia." Lin Zhichao said proudly.

It's a symbol of strength.

Henry said with a smile: "I am looking forward to the further cooperation between the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Mr. Lin's industry, because you are a symbol of strength." ”

"Haha, I'm looking forward to it too, here please!"

To enter Canada, you have to rely on the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and this move, in the early years when he cooperated with the largest daily necessities wholesaler in North America, Lin Zhichao was already planning.

Then, Lin Zhichao led Henry and his entourage to inspect the office buildings of Cheung Kong Asset Group and gave a detailed introduction to the situation of Cheung Kong Group.

In the evening, he accompanied everyone to a banquet at the Miramar Hotel, and Lin Zhichao also invited Feng Jingxi and Li Gaofu to accompany him, both of whom lived in Canada for a while, and now they are rich people in Hong Kong. As the president of the Canadian Imperial Bank, he also needs to build a good relationship with the wealthy people in Hong Kong, or provide help for immigrants and investments, or need the help of the wealthy people in Hong Kong to make the Canadian Imperial Bank gain a foothold in Hong Kong.

"Mr. Lin, there is no problem with Cheung Kong Asset Group being listed in Toronto. But now that we are in the midst of an oil crisis and the world economy is in trouble, do you still choose to go public at this time? Henry asked earnestly.

Today's preliminary inspection, the strength of Cheung Kong Asset Group left a deep impression on him, this company already has a huge business in Hong Kong and Singapore, and the business is not limited to real estate, is a rare high-quality enterprise.

Cheung Kong Asset Group's current market capitalisation of HK$4.5 billion has fallen 65% from its peak.

Lin Zhichao said: "It doesn't matter, while the capital market is cheap, the assets in the market are also cheap, which does not affect the operation of the enterprise itself. ”

From the perspective of enterprises, as long as the machine for printing stocks is turned on, they can be exchanged for high-quality assets on the market, which is simply an empty glove white wolf.

From the perspective of business owners, it is undoubtedly dilution and dilution of stocks. But at present, Lin Zhichao's shareholding is still as high as 72% of Cheung Kong Group, and the market value is still 4.5 billion Hong Kong dollars, so Lin Zhichao wants to take advantage of the recent time to raise 100 million Hong Kong dollars from the Toronto stock market.

Feng Jingxi said with a smile: "Lin Sheng's abacus must be very shrewd, President Henry doesn't have to worry, haha!" ”

Henry said with a smile: "I heard that Cheung Kong Asset Group was listed in London, and it was Mr. Feng who matched him. ”

Feng Jingxi replied: "I am Mr. Lin's staff officer, and I will be happy to serve him if he has anything." ”

The crowd laughed.

Lin Zhichao and Feng Jingxi also have a good relationship, he is one of Lin Zhichao's stockbrokers, plus he helped Cheung Kong Group to be listed in London, and everyone has cooperated more.

Feng Jingxi also has to thank Lin Zhichao, when Lin Zhichao cashed out the stock position, Feng Jingxi also cashed out some of the stocks because he was worried, and as a result, he lost at least 100 million Hong Kong dollars. Of course, even so, he lost two or three hundred million Hong Kong dollars in the stock market.

However, although two or three hundred million is more, it is not fatal, and Feng Jingxi quickly launched other businesses after that to recover blood.

On the whole, Feng Jingxi's life has been full of disasters and difficulties, and his skills are not small, but his luck is too bad. Later generations only left more than a billion wealth to their descendants, far less wealthy than the families of the other two giants of Sun Hung Kai.

The next day, Lin Zhichao continued to accompany Henry and his party.

"Mr. Lin, our Imperial Commercial Bank also wants to come to Hong Kong for development, do you have any good suggestions?" Henry earnestly asked.

Asking for advice is only superficial, and I really want to catch up with Lin Zhichao, a local snake.

This is the exchange of interests!

Lin Zhichao immediately said: "At present, Hong Kong's economy is affected by the oil crisis, and there is a certain decline, but this is related to the international situation, so it is not impossible." The Hong Kong government does not allow foreign banks to open branches in Hong Kong, so if Imperial Commercial Bank wants to develop in Hong Kong, it can first set up a finance company. If you are interested, you can consider cooperating with Cheung Kong Asset Group to set up a finance company specializing in real estate investment, housing loans and other businesses. ”

At present, Hong Kong's financial market is still not directly developed to the outside world, and foreign banks are not allowed to open branches, that is, they cannot absorb deposits. Therefore, foreign banks can only develop in Hong Kong in the form of finance companies.

In fact, finance companies can also absorb deposits and loans, but foreign finance companies certainly cannot.

Henry was overjoyed and immediately said: "Mr. Lin is cheerful, how about we cooperate in Hong Kong after we complete the listing of Cheung Kong Group in Toronto?" ”

Lin Zhichao nodded and said, "No problem!" Win-win cooperation! ”

"Win-win cooperation!"

After the Chinese New Year.

Cheung Kong announced that it has embarked on a 12-year Admiralty construction plan.

The first phase of the project is the construction of 'Raffles City', a five-storey 200,000-square-foot shopping mall, including three floors above ground and two floors underground, which is expected to be completed in 1977;

The second phase of the project is the construction of the 'Yangtze River Plaza', which will build a first-class commercial complex on the 300,000-square-foot site of the former site of the Naval Dockyard Victoria Barracks, including a shopping mall with an area of more than 700,000 square feet, as well as two skyscrapers of hotels and serviced apartments, and two Grade A office buildings; The entire Yangtze River Plaza will have a floor area of 5 million square feet and is expected to be completed in 1986.

As soon as the news came out, it shocked the entire real estate market.

As if agreed, Hongkong Land has also officially announced that it will spend $600 million to launch a 10-year redevelopment plan for the Central District.

The first phase of the project is the redevelopment of the Alexandra Building, which will be completed in 1976 and will be 36 storeys tall with a total area of 357,000 square feet, which is 119,000 square feet more than the old Alexandra Building.

The second phase of the project is the demolition and redevelopment of Gloucester Building and Royal House, in order to connect the properties for the construction of a first-class high-rise commercial building and a shopping mall with a large podium, Hongkong Land will exchange Jardine Matheson Building across Pedder Street with Wheelock Company for Lane Crawford Building, and in 1979, Gloucester Tower and the adjacent Landmark Plaza will be completed on the same site.

The third phase of the project was to demolish and rebuild the adjacent Duke and Princess Shops to create a similar look to the Gloucester Building, and the entire project was completed in 1982.

Although the two news were very exciting to the market, the impact of the oil crisis and the stock market crash was huge, and it did not set off too many waves. On the contrary, many people compare the two companies, who is the largest real estate company in Hong Kong?

At its peak, Cheung Kong Asset Group had a market value of more than 11 billion Hong Kong dollars, while Hongkong Land was only 7 billion Hong Kong dollars. But in fact, the market value of Cheung Kong Asset Group has not many liquid shares, coupled with new listings, so it is very high.

Of course, the overall assets should also be much higher than Cheung Kong Group.

Cheung Kong Asset Group.

"Boss, Chinese Real Estate intends to sell the Chinese City Building!" Hu Zhaoxu came to Lin Zhichao's office and reported.

Lin Zhichao suddenly came to his senses, the Chinese City Building is a high-quality property, located at 28 Queen's Road Central, which is the heart of Central.

This building also has a long history: in the early days of Hong Kong's opening of the port, the 'division of China and the West', and Victoria City Central was the territory of foreigners. In the British colonial era of Hong Kong, in the heart of Hong Kong 'Central', which was controlled by foreign firms, it was a kind of pride for Chinese companies to rent space here to work.

In 1922, the former site of the Hong Kong General Post Office and the Hong Kong Court was auctioned, and the Chinese in British Hong Kong seized this golden opportunity to buy the land for 50 Hong Kong dollars per square foot. In 1924, the first Chinese-funded building in Central was built on this site.

However, the foreigners boasted of being superior and disdained the gathering of Chinese in the same building, so the building only had Chinese tenants, hence the name 'Chinese Xing'. In the following half century, countless Chinese started their careers in the Chinese Bank, and the first exchange founded by the Chinese, the "Far East Exchange", was also born here.

"Now that the stock market is plummeting and the oil crisis is there, there aren't many buyers who can buy this building, right?"

"Indeed, even Hongkong Land's cash is running dry, and there is no suitable buyer for Chinese-funded real estate, but we Cheung Kong Group is strong."

Hu Zhaoxu said confidently.

Cheung Kong Asset Group has a cash flow of more than 200 million yuan in its hands, and is about to raise 100 million yuan from the Toronto stock market, and the boss has also contacted a number of banks to borrow more than 300 million Hong Kong dollars at any time.

Therefore, Cheung Kong Asset Group is strong.

Lin Zhichao said: "Then I will arrange for Li Yeguang to discuss with you with Chinese real estate to see what price is more suitable!" ”

Hu Zhaoxu nodded and said, "Okay."

Having a lawyer involved in the negotiation is a normal option.

There is no doubt that the Chinese Bank is worth hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars, and it is only an old building that needs to be rebuilt.

Lin Zhichao asked curiously: "Behind the Chinese real estate is 'Li Peicai value (Li Fuzhao, Li Fushu)', Feng Pingshan family (Feng Bingfen), I didn't expect it to fall to the point of selling the ancestral business!" ”

Hu Zhaoxu said: "Today's business world is like this, the rise of new consortia, the fall of old families, but the boss of your business has stood in the Hong Kong business community for more than 20 years, and it is getting bigger and bigger!" ”

Lin Zhichao smiled: "Then I'll test you, why is this happening?" ”

"With a large number of real estate companies listed on the Hong Kong stock market, and expanding their assets and businesses through public offerings, rights issues, acquisitions and mergers, the relationship between Hong Kong's real estate industry and the stock market has become increasingly close, and the mutual influence has increased significantly, gradually forming a special phenomenon in Hong Kong's economy - stock pulling," said Wu Zhaoxu. When the economy is booming, the real estate market is booming, land prices and property prices are rising, and the market value of the assets of most listed companies is also rising, driving the stock price to rise. Once the economy is sluggish, the real estate market is weakened, land prices and property prices fall, the market value of listed companies' assets declines, dragging down stock prices, listed companies are more difficult to raise funds, and some capital turnover is not effective, and the company is forced to sell real estate properties to cash out, aggravating the decline in land prices and property prices, forming a vicious circle in which real estate and the stock market pull each other down.

The formation of 'stock and land pulling' has undoubtedly provided a broad space for the development of some real estate developers who have a deep understanding of Hong Kong's economy and real estate cycle. When the market is high, the stock market is also pushed up, which is a good opportunity for real estate companies to list or issue new shares, and the timing is right, you can raise a lot of funds for development in the stock market high, and take advantage of the real estate tide to buy a large number of property properties, a few rounds, strength and assets can be expanded several times. ”

Lin Zhichao nodded and said: "According to what you said, that is, many veteran real estate developers can't see the situation clearly, and this time they will be eliminated and the next batch will be pulled." Which real estate companies do you think are the most promising? ”

After thinking about it, Hu Zhaoxu said seriously: "Sun Hung Kai Properties and New World Properties should be able to grow in this crisis. In other aspects, Hopewell Real Estate has suffered a great disaster, and it may take years to get up; Hang Lung Properties missees the situation and spends a huge amount of money to buy Shaw Brothers properties, and its cash flow will inevitably dry up; DCH did not have the courage to develop projects independently and was hesitant; Fuhe Real Estate, decent, more than defensive, insufficient offense In the final analysis, we Cheung Kong Industrial Group has thrown them too far, in fact, we have only seen Hongkong Land in our eyes, but it has already surpassed Hongkong Land. ”

In the end, Hu Zhaoxu said confidently.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Your analysis has a certain truth!" However, the future development of Cheung Kong Group, we will have to seriously discuss it later, the first is comprehensive development and global development; The second is the professional development of the board of directors. ”

Hu Zhaoxu was surprised, the first one he could understand, but the second one was a little incomprehensible.

Does the professional development of the board of directors mean that the boss intends to turn the board of directors into a 'professional manager'?

At present, although Cheung Kong Asset Group is listed, the board of directors is the board of directors of the Lin family, and the management is professional, but the board of directors is family-oriented.

"These are not in a hurry, step by step, it is very important to walk steadily!"

"The boss is right!"

In fact, Lin Zhichao intends to cultivate the idea of the second generation of management, and the professionalization of the board of directors also requires a process. Of course, the professionalism of the board of directors does not mean that the Lin family is 'out of power', but only means that new blood is added, and it is no longer all the senior executives and directors trained by the company.

(End of chapter)