Hong Kong's new giants

Chapter 548 [Hotel Tycoon]

Friday, April 7.

In the midnight show of "Resident Evil", the "Cane Bite Gang" filed in, and the main creative team who sat down in advance was a little nervous-waiting for the reaction of the Cane Biter Gang.When they first heard that it was a big production of DreamWorks, almost no one hesitated to join.

After all, the brand of 'Dreamworks' has been more famous than Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers in recent years, but it became famous quickly and declined quickly.

The reason for the decline is that DreamWorks claims that "DreamWorks produces must be high-quality goods", so DreamWorks hardly shoots "bad movies", and 95% of the dozens of movies released have a box office of tens of millions.

In the past year, DreamWorks has not had a single work, which has caused a lot of discussion in Xiangjiang; coupled with the investment of 1600 million US dollars in "Resident Evil", if the box office of Xiangjiang is not good this time, most of them will be disappointed. Think DreamWorks is leaving the film industry.

Is it true that, as DreamWorks President Pan Cheng said, after Xiangjiang Films reached its peak in 1992 (local box office of 12.8 billion, overseas box office of 19 billion, local films accounted for 82% of the local box office), it will inevitably decline until Almost disappeared.

In fact, last year and the first half of this year did go downhill, and local films only accounted for 73% of the local box office last year, all because "Jurassic Park" became the box office champion.

Of course, when Pan Cheng said so, many media also believed that he was promoting the new movie, which meant that DreamWorks would become the company that saved Xiangjiang Films.

Well, we will wait and see.

Soon, "Resident Evil" began to be broadcast. This is a Class IIB rated movie, which is not suitable for children and needs to be watched with the company of parents.

The umbrella logo begins to appear on the screen, along with some grid-like special effects, and the film begins to explain the background.

After adaptation, the umbrella of "Resident Evil" is the world's largest profitable company in the middle of the 21st century, and the headquarters location has also been changed to Xiangjiang. After all, it is a movie made by Xiangjiang people!
As the movie progressed, the entire movie theater sometimes exclaimed and sometimes held its breath. It is clear that "Resident Evil" is not a problem to be well received.This movie has a lot of "future sci-fi". After all, it was the Internet era when it was filmed in the previous life, but the Internet era has not yet begun, so the artificial intelligence in it is more shocking.Although artificial intelligence was mentioned by Americans as early as the 60s and [-]s, it was obviously just a concept at that time, but in "Resident Evil", according to computer special effects, the red queen has been holographic.

"S..." The audience gasped one after another.

On the screen, some players were swept by the grid laser, and the special effects made the audience gasp.

For this effect, it probably cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more, and it was produced by Hollywood computer special effects.

"Is this Xiangjiang's sci-fi film?" Some viewers couldn't help asking.

"Of course not, Hong Kong's sci-fi movies aren't even for dogs!" the friend murmured.

"KAO, DreamWorks is really fucking awesome, it made Hollywood blockbuster effects."

For a while, the praise was rave, which surprised the main creative team.

This movie is not only about the quality of shooting, but also its creativity is huge in this era. Zombies are old antiques, and zombies will be the new kings.Zombies really do not exist, but will zombies really exist in the future, because this is caused by biological and chemical weapons.

Very topical!
Possibly, the movie came out a few years earlier, which would have caused a better effect.

"Resident Evil" has aroused great repercussions in Hong Kong, and the box office in the first week is not bad. Industry insiders predict that it may reach 3500 million Hong Kong dollars; A lot of people won't watch it.

The film was released on Taiwan Island, only one day later, so the response from Taiwan Island was relatively good, and it was passed back to Xiangjiang through the film dealer.For a time, DreamWorks boosted morale.

You must know that Xiangjiang is losing the market in Taiwan. Especially in 1992, Taiwanese filmmakers put pressure on the relevant departments of Taiwan to restrict the development of Hollywood blockbusters in Taiwan. market' trends.

Of course, although "Resident Evil" performed well in the two places, the media and commentators still commented: DreamWorks is still unlikely to recover the cost of 1.2 million Hong Kong dollars, unless the film can be released in the United States and achieve good results. score.

In an interview, Pan Cheng said: "This movie will recover its cost, but it will take a long time. Not only that, the game copyright of this movie has been taken by the brother company Wanhui Media, and the price is quite ideal, reaching 1500 yuan. million Hong Kong dollars."

For a moment, everyone was amazed that the richest man Lin really developed the cultural industry in an all-round way!

However, is Xiangjiang suitable for the development of games and software?
unknown!

In short, if it wasn't for Lin Zuhui's work, the media would have sent comments like "not optimistic" and "a waste of money".Considering that Lin Zuhui has never failed in a certain industry, let's wait and see.

ATV building.

Standing in front of the window of his office, Lin Zuhui had a panoramic view of the entire ATV city, giving people the feeling of 'incredible'.Although the ATV Group can only be said to be a small business for Lin Zuhui's net worth, it can give him a sense of satisfaction.

ATV Group is an important part of Lin Zuhui's layout of "cultural industry", and the other part is of course Wanhui Media.The cultural industry, no matter which country it is in, will be an important component of GDP in the future. In the 21st century, the cultural industry in most countries will account for more than 5%.In culturally powerful countries such as the United States and South Korea, the percentage is above 10%, which is admirable.

Of course, it is unknown whether South Korea in this life can grow to the size of the previous life, but Xiangjiang will definitely come to Lin Zuhui's planning to reach about 10% of the local GDP (4.4% in the previous life).

Looking at ATV City through the window, I feel quite amazing.Lin Zuhui is a real estate developer, and he has never seen such a huge building complex. The ATV City covers an area that is not large, and except for the ATV Building, the other buildings are not high.

But there are handsome men and beauties gathered here, and the atmosphere of culture gathers here, which makes Lin Zuhui, a businessman full of copper smell, feel very remarkable.

After a while, Zhao Zhenqiang, director of ATV, came to Lin Zuhui's office.

Zhao Zhenqiang's ability is good, he can fully complete the tasks arranged by Lin Zuhui, and he can expand Lin Zuhui's creativity.For example, Hong Kong dramas. In addition to the seven outlines given by Lin Zuhui, ATV Group has filmed more than 20 Hong Kong dramas.

"Boss, the ratings of "Journey to the West" are 40%, and the audience response is particularly good!" Zhao Zhenqiang reported happily.Generally speaking, the boss doesn't care about these things, and he doesn't need to specifically report the ratings of the series, but this series was proposed by the boss, so naturally he has to report to the boss.

Lin Zuhui said with satisfaction: "Looks like we made the right move! Speaking of which, I also watched Zhou Xingchi's "A Chinese Journey to the West" with good results, so I hand-picked this drama series. It seems that we made the right choice."

"The dramas handpicked by the boss have so far been the ones with the highest ratings." Zhao Zhenqiang flattered him, even though he was telling the truth.

"Don't spread it everywhere, it will cause me more trouble!"

"Don't worry, boss, I didn't tell anyone."

Many episodes, I know that Lin Zuhui participated in it, and Zhao Zhenqiang is alone, so he really doesn't talk nonsense, after all, he is the only one who leaked the news.

Speaking of which, in the first half of this year, ATV's hit drama "The Legend of Condor Heroes" was also hand-picked by Lin Zuhui; but this year as a whole, Lin Zuhui has not interfered with the development of ATV's drama series.

On a whim, Lin Zuhui continued: "You guys make another Hong Kong drama, probably an 'older leftover girl', she is neither beautiful, nor slim, and has nothing to show off, but that's not all about her, she has a tenacious, An upright curiosity, and the spirit of going forward regardless of the depths of the water. Such an 'ordinary' heroine, but by a coincidence, had a bloody love story with a handsome and rich restaurant owner."

Zhao Zhenqiang immediately said: "This theme is good. It can satisfy the daydreams of many ordinary girls. It is similar to the story of Cinderella and Prince Charming."

Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "In the past, our Hong Kong dramas were handsome men and beautiful women. This is our characteristic. But this time our heroine is not so beautiful, which can be regarded as a subversion. But it doesn't matter. We just want to grasp the true state of mind of most Hong Kong women, and combine funny and romantic together."

Zhao Zhenqiang nodded, and also suggested: "Actually, we can also choose a beautiful heroine, and then let her gain weight!"

cruel!

But Lin Zuhui agreed and said: "You can figure it out, I'm just an occasional thought."

"Ok!"

Finally, Lin Zuhui said: "You ask the company's team to think about whether some Hong Kong dramas can be 'filmed and broadcast'. If the audience does not respond well, they can immediately change the script. Through this model, you can feel the market at any time. Of course, there is no need to worry about this model, you can study it slowly, and it can be regarded as enhancing the depth of Hong Kong dramas."

Zhao Zhenqiang has to admire the boss's unconstrained ideas, but it seems very reasonable.

"Okay, I remember!"

In the conference room of the New Era Group, senior executives are gathering around a round table. There are about a dozen people, all of whom are core executives.With the development of the company to this day, the group has been full of talents, with as many as 500 senior staff and more than 2 employees, making it a veritable large-scale group in Xiangjiang.

After a while, Lin Zuhui came to the meeting room, and everyone looked at him, but they didn't get up, and they didn't say hello. The meeting stopped engaging in superficial efforts.

Lin Zuhui sat down and immediately said in English: "Let's get started! Corbett, you come first!"

High efficiency has always been Lin Zuhui's pursuit.

Generally speaking, only high-level real estate meetings are in Cantonese, and group meetings are in English.

Of course, the core senior foreigner of the New Era Group is only Corbett, the president of the 'New Era Hotel Group'.But English is one of the official English in Xiangjiang, and English is one of the standards for asset elites, so there is no problem in meeting.

Corbett will report to work immediately. This is a weekly high-level meeting. Of course, if the core high-level executives are overseas, there is no need to come back for the meeting.

"The board of directors of Club Med has agreed to our overall acquisition at a price of 2.88 million US dollars. The international project team of the Atlantis Hotel has been established and is currently being closely designed."

Lin Zuhui listened very carefully. Although the profit rate of hotel development is not high (the rate of return is about 6-8%), it is very necessary; the simplest reason is assuming that at the end of the 90s, New Times Group cashed out 800 billion in the US stock market , The Japanese stock market cashed out 250 billion, and the sale of British Telecom Orange made a profit of 1000 billion. How to digest the income of more than 2000 billion at once?
The best answer is not to buy and buy later, but to expand aggressively in advance and repay the debt at that time.

What's more, New Era Group will definitely cash out tens of billions of real estate before Nine Sevens, which can also be used as an action to resist risks.

Lin Zuhui asked: "After the acquisition of Club Med, how do you plan to change?"

Corbett said: "I have already lobbied Yabuli, the top executive of Euro Disney, to serve as the president of Club Med. I also hope that he can turn Club Med into a service company similar to Disney. In addition, I also hope that he can save costs. Do better online, focus on the asset-light, culture-heavy, and brand-heavy model. He already intends to join us.”

Lin Zuhui nodded in satisfaction. Corbett is definitely a top talent, and of course New Era Hotel trained him.

"I bought Club Med because I hoped to lay out the 'cultural tourism' industry. The hotel industry is no longer just providing accommodation, but is moving towards comprehensive and comprehensive development. Atlantis Hotel is also a kind of cultural tourism industry, because 'Water World' is also a feature of it. Of course, the plan I mentioned is a bit long-term, but we can think and plan now."

The New Era Group also owns the tourism industry, which belongs to the Miramar Hotel. It occupies more than 20% of the travel agencies in Xiangjiang and the mainland, while the government-run travel agencies in the mainland account for 70% of the shares.

A group of people listened very carefully. The overall plan of the boss is the soul of the New Era Group, and these high-level executives are the executors to realize these plans.

Corbett was also greatly inspired, and immediately said: "The boss means that in the future, the New Era Hotel Group will be divided into two business divisions, one for the cultural tourism industry and the other for the hotel industry."

Lin Zuhui said: "We can distinguish the key points internally in this way, but they all operate under the group mode."

Corbett nodded and said, "I see!"

Then Lin Zuhui said: "Optimistic prediction, our New Times Group will have a lot of cash income in the future, so I plan to strengthen the development of the group's assets. Corbert, Li Mingtao, your hotel group is looking for acquisitions of European and American high-end brands. This time We are no longer just willing to be a major shareholder, but want to acquire a wholly-owned subsidiary, you can check out the Langham Hotel in the UK."

Everyone is shocked, the boss is really expanding in an all-round way, the European and American shopping malls 'Amazon'. Now there is an increase in hotel assets.

But everyone has no doubts, because the boss is a stock god!In addition, now is the era of surging housing profits, which also provides good conditions for overseas expansion.

Corbett and Li Mingtao nodded and agreed.

New Era Hotel Group actually has a lot of assets at present, but the high-end hotel brand 'Grand Hotel' (Peninsula Hotel) can only be regarded as the assets of the Kadoorie family. But the management is in the hands of the Kadoorie family.

In addition, the mid-end hotel brand 'Miramar Hotel' is still mainly managed by the Yang family and has not really been included in the new era hotel system.

Therefore, in the next few years, New Era Hotels will also start the road of acquisition and then go through integration.

Lin Zuhui has a macro figure for the revenue of the New Times Group in the 90s, so he decided to vigorously develop the hotel industry. After all, if you have money, you need to invest.As long as you run through the 'high inflation', you can invest.

After the meeting, Lin Zuhui called Liang Zhenxun and said: "Take out 5 million Hong Kong dollars to short the US dollar and Japanese yen, with 20 times leverage!"

Liang Zhenxun nodded, and immediately understood that the boss only needs to give a general trend, and then it will be the business of the company's investment department.Although leverage is high, New Era Group will reserve sufficient funds to cover positions at any time, so there is no need to worry about rebound factors.

After Liang Zhenxun left, Lin Zuhui fell into thinking. This year's real estate net profit itself may be about 15% higher than last year's. This year's group company's net profit is still expected to exceed last year's 165 billion (there was 20 billion non-recurring profits last year) .

However, the real estate adjustment still has a certain impact, otherwise the real estate net profit will increase by about 30%. (10% increase in supply, more sales in the first quarter)
But in any case, New Times Group invested too much in long-term projects, resulting in a slow increase in the group's net profit.But now because of increasing investment in hotels, Lin Zuhui intends to allow New Times Group to earn some 'non-recurring profits'.

Compared with Cheung Kong Group, New Era Group is far behind in many fields.

For example, in the retail field, Watsons has a great brand effect, with nearly 100 stores overseas, either wholly-owned or joint ventures; while the retail industry of New Times Group is currently limited to Xiangjiang, with two joint venture stores in the mainland.So, the gap is huge.

For example, in the field of energy, Hutchison Whampoa has many power plants in Southeast Asia and the mainland, which New Era Group has not dabbled in.

New Times Group has many growth points, such as beverages and food, but this will take the 21st century to explode, after all, the level of consumption in the mainland is there.

In addition, the biggest advantage of New Era Group is of course its global real estate projects, which will take some time to bring substantial returns.

Therefore, in order to maintain the growth of profits, Lin Zuhui can only consider the non-recurring profits of New Era Group in terms of financial investment.

Of course, as time goes by, the New Era Group will abandon the Cheung Kong Group, that's for sure.

(End of this chapter)