The Birth of the Hong Kong Island Family.

Chapter 230 [Someone Copy Homework]

mid-may.

Hong Kong.

On the site of No. 10 Ice House Street, Central, the groundbreaking ceremony is being held.

The building already has its own name, the 'Crocodile Building'.The reason for taking this name is very simple. One is that it will become the headquarters of crocodile shirts, and the other is to establish a brand name and reputation for crocodile shirts.

Anyway, for Lin Zhichao, there will be building orders in the future, and there will also be 'Uniqlo Building'.

At present, crocodile shirts have become synonymous with clothing in Hong Kong, and have become the first choice for mid-to-high-end people. In Hong Kong, crocodile shirts have a total of five stores, including one in Sing Tao, with an annual profit of about 120 million Hong Kong dollars, which can be regarded as a very profitable enterprise.

"Lin Sheng, congratulations!"

"Thank you, this way please!"

At the groundbreaking ceremony, a red carpet was laid and a simple red wine banquet was held. The guests who came were all friends and business partners of Lin Zhichao.

The crocodile shirt building is 16 stories high, with a floor area of ​​6800 square feet on each floor and a ground floor; the construction period is 18 months (including decoration), and it is expected to be put into use in early 1959.The building innovatively develops the lower three floors and the ground floor into a shopping mall model. Once completed, it will become a shopping sanctuary in the central district.

"Lin Sheng, after your building is completed, it may be the tallest building in Hong Kong!" Liao Baoshan said with a smile.

At present, the tallest residential building in Hong Kong is 18 floors, and the tallest building is the 17-story Chan Palace Building (Causeway Bay).Because residential buildings stipulate that the minimum height of each floor is 3.2 meters, developers build according to this height; office buildings are different, and the height of each floor must be at least 3.5 meters.

The first floor of the Crocodile Building is 3.8 meters high, so it is taller than other buildings.

However, Lin Zhichao responded: "That's not true. Xu Sheng's China Construction Company also built a Central Building, which is a little taller than my building."

Although it is a little taller, the title of the tallest building in Hong Kong is estimated to be placed on the "Toad Palace Building" until there is a significantly taller building.

Liao Baoshan said enviously: "The headquarters building is the credit guarantee of a company. It is really enviable that a clothing brand under Lin Sheng has a headquarters building."

He is also eager to give Liu Chong Hing Bank a headquarters building, but it is more profitable to invest the funds in residential buildings, so he can't take care of it for the time being.

People around also agree with this point of view. If a bank has a headquarters building, it can make customers feel more at ease, and other companies are also adapting to this phenomenon.

Now Zhichao Lin has built all the headquarters buildings of Crocodile Shirts, which means that others will build better Yangtze River Building and Global Building.

This strength is far from being comparable to everyone!
Next, the groundbreaking ceremony officially began, and the process of offering sacrifices, filling soil, lion and dragon dances, etc. was held one by one.

Finally, there was a simple reception. The venue was set up in the open air, and everyone held a glass of red wine to communicate with each other, which can be regarded as an industry exchange in the real estate industry.

During the exchange, someone mentioned that the house could not be sold recently, but everyone didn't answer the topic at all, which immediately made the person who brought up the topic very embarrassed.

It turned out that everyone already knew about this problem, but obviously they all planned to pretend not to know.Now that a real estate is open, it can't sell a tenth of it in half a month, which is such a bad situation.

However, the calculation in the hearts of these real estate developers is that the situation may only be temporary, and it will improve after a while.

So even in such an obvious situation, there are still real estate developers who are not afraid of death to acquire land.

After drinking a glass of wine, everyone said goodbye.

And Lin Zhichao also watched the machinery and equipment enter the field, and felt very comfortable.The construction cost of the Crocodile Building is about 650 million Hong Kong dollars, using first-class building materials, so although the floor area is small, it is still expensive.

For Lin Zhichao, these buildings will not be rebuilt for seven or eighty years. The best building materials must be used, and the density of steel bars is extremely high.

In fact, if there is no opportunity to combine buildings and increase the "land area ratio", almost no buildings in Hong Kong will be demolished and rebuilt, which shows that the quality is still very good.

Back at Cheung Kong, Lin Zhichao happened to participate in the design meeting of the 'Miramar Hotel' project.

Attending this meeting was a well-known architect, as well as the design department and senior management of Cheung Kong.

In this design project team, Lin Zhichao is the "Chief Designer". Based on the shopping malls of later generations and combined with the background of this era, he has a high theoretical knowledge of architectural design.

The second is the architects, who can also contribute a lot of design ideas, coupled with professional knowledge such as architectural structure.

The last is the design department of Cheung Kong. After all, they have only participated in the design of residential buildings, and this is also a learning opportunity.

"Designing a semicircular building for the real estate market at the main gate can not only increase the floor area, but also give people a sense of atmosphere. It can also publish advertising signs, so that customers can't help but walk into Miramar shopping at a glance. Center." Lin Zhichao expressed his opinion on the details.

At this time, the overall structure of the Miramar Hotel (including the shopping center) has come out, which is very perfect.

British designer Joe John said: "If such a building is added, it is necessary to add supporting pillars to block the main gate. The advantage is that the atmosphere is seen from a distance, and the disadvantage is that it will be affected when entering."

During his speech, Lin Zhichao had quickly drawn a sketch of this part by hand.

He handed it to everyone and said, "It seems acceptable!"

Everyone immediately circulated it one by one, and soon the plan was tentatively determined, and it was finally finalized after the plans came out.

Next, Lin Zhichao discussed with everyone to design a children's playground on the top of the fifth floor of the shopping center.This design is more avant-garde, but definitely popular.

Customers can put their children on the playground and go shopping with peace of mind.At the same time, with this casino, many parents will also come to Miramar Shopping Center.

Of course, the fourth and fifth floors of the shopping mall are actually much smaller than the first, second and third floors of the shopping mall. It is a rectangular building because the hotel is also built on it.

In the end, Lin Zhichao was very satisfied with the meeting and made great progress.It is expected that the entire design plan will be officially released in three months.

The entire building complex is owned by the Miramar Hotel Company, which means that the Miramar Shopping Center is a subsidiary property and is not separate.The purpose of Lin Zhichao's doing this is that Miramar Hotel will be listed for financing in the future (1972), and the money raised will be used to purchase surrounding land and invest in real estate and hotels.

Anyway, the 80s could still be privatized.Using shareholders' money to develop the company, and then taking advantage of the stock market's plunge to privatize, is a proper "empty glove white wolf".Not only can you get the maximum benefit, but you can also gain praise from shareholders.

The reason is simple, when the stock is plummeting, as long as you offer a 35% premium, they will be very grateful to you for unwinding them.

The Suez Canal began to reopen in April, and then global freight and ship prices plummeted, but they were still much higher than before July 1956.

Bao Yu just saw the business opportunity, and after two years of shipping operation, he is already a qualified ship owner.

On this day, he summoned relatives and friends and decided to buy a second-hand boat.

Bao Yugang introduced enthusiastically: "After two years of operation, we have almost earned back 50 US dollars, which is almost the price of a boat. Now, the price of second-hand ships in Europe and the United States has plummeted, and it is a good time to officially attack. Therefore, I think Buy three more ocean-going freighters, and then lease them to Japanese shipping companies.”

If he hadn't chartered that boat for a long time, he could have earned at least $120 million over two years.Not only that, but the ship is also at a high rent (long-term lease status) next.

Unfortunately, there is no if!
Bao Zhaolong immediately said worriedly: "For the three ocean-going freighters, the 50 US dollars is probably less than one-third of their funds, and the remaining more than 100 million US dollars, we will definitely not be able to get it out."

After Bao Yu started shipping, the original trading company was still in operation, and it could earn millions of dollars every year, but it was still a drop in the bucket.

"I know, so I hope everyone will work together to raise the largest amount of funds. For the rest, I will contact the bank." Bao Yugang said still confidently.

Afterwards, everyone was infected with Bao Yugang's confidence. After all, shipping has become one of the most profitable industries, and everyone took it to heart.Even if there is no 'Suez Canal Crisis', the annual rate of return of old ships is still above 30%.

However, Bao Yugang did not say one thing, that is, a 1-ton second-hand cargo ship, aged 20-30, has now risen to nearly 70 US dollars.That is, the 8000-ton second-hand ship in his hand costs 60 US dollars now, which is even more valuable than when he bought it.After all, at the time of the Suez Canal crisis, these ships were worth more than $100 million, more than half the price of new ships.

Now he wants to buy three ocean-going freighters, which will cost nearly 200 million US dollars.The $50 earned by the shipping company is only a quarter of that.

Today's meeting was attended by not only Bao Yugang's father and younger brother, but also Bao Yugang's fellow countrymen and friends; he gave full play to his banker instinct to raise funds to develop his career.

He also learned from Lin Zhichao that every ship is a company, and such a ship will also have other shareholders.

In the end, after raising funds, Bao Yugang won another 50 US dollars, which is almost everyone's limit.

Bao Yugang said with satisfaction: "Don't worry, everyone, Dong'an has been renewed for four years, and it can earn about 30 US dollars a year. The market is very good."

Bao Yuxing immediately said excitedly: "It seems that shipping is really profitable! We bought the Dongan for more than 50 U.S. dollars, and now we have almost made back our money. After signing a four-year contract, we can almost make back two dollars." A second-hand freighter."

Everyone joined in one after another.

Make money indeed!

When Bao Yu just saw this, he naturally wanted to confuse people and get everyone to support the shipping industry, so he said: "The Dong'an ship is only 31 years old, and it can still be in operation for about eight years. I believe it can make more contributions. At the same time , We invest funds in shipping, just like bank interest rate, more and more ships are rolling, just like the development of global shipping.”

Everyone is encouraged!

Bao Yugang who got the money is equivalent to having 100 million US dollars, but he knows that the funds are still half of the funds before he can buy three ships and have operating funds.

Of course he knows how to find a bank. He has been courting Sandas all these years, and he is already making arrangements.

On the weekend, Lin Zhichao and Sandas were fishing on a yacht.

This is a specially-made yacht, and its luxury is no less than that of the governor's 'Mulian' yacht. The hull is made of steel and Burmese wood is also used.The hull is 22 meters long, powered by a modern diesel engine and equipped with sails.

The internal structure is luxurious, and it is almost made of Burmese wood, with several independent court rooms.

Compared with the yachts of later generations, the disadvantage is that there is only one layer, and because the hull is light, the shaking range is larger.

Lin Zhichao, as the "World Ship King", builds a yacht that is about the same level as the Governor's private yacht. Naturally, it is nothing, but it costs only 20 US dollars.

Compared with Onassis' super yacht refitted from an old warship, it is simply a child's play.

"Don't you consider ordering ships for the funds of the global shipping?" Sanders asked during the fishing.

Lin Zhichao has saved a lot of money in HSBC, which is almost the rent in Europe and the United States, but he has never spent it.

This is obviously abnormal!

Lin Zhichao said: "All countries in the world are now researching and building larger ships, and the technology is not yet mature, so when Japan can build 60-ton oil tankers, we will build ships again. It will be almost [-]s by then, and the demand for oil in Europe, America and Japan will grow rapidly. .At the same time, the proportion of oil tankers in the world's merchant ships will also increase significantly."

Sanders immediately understood that Lin Zhichao made the shipbuilding plan from an economic point of view.He also learned that currently the world's oil tankers only account for 15% of the total merchant ships, but the potential for growth is huge.

In the words of Lin Zhichao, 30% of oil tankers is a reasonable figure.

"Is there any other reason?" Sanders continued to ask.

Lin Zhichao turned his head and asked curiously, "Why do you ask that?"

Sandas smiled, and then said in a very understanding tone: "As far as I know, you have grasped two industry cycles and suddenly stopped shipbuilding. You must think that there will be an off-season in the next few years. You say I guess Right?"

MD, was actually seen through!

Do you want to throw it into the sea and feed the fish?
Thoughts flashed through Lin Zhichao's mind, and then he said frankly: "There is indeed a little bit! Since the Suez Canal crisis broke out, shipowners have been encouraged, but I believe that there should be a small trough, maybe It will last for one or two years in the late 50s. After all, global shipyards have received a large number of orders in the past year, and if these ships are launched, it will also have a short-term impact on the market.”

Sanders suddenly realized, and said: "So, you want to take advantage of the off-season in the late 50s to build ships and prepare for the prosperous economic development in the 60s?"

Lin Zhichao nodded and said, "It's almost like this! But I also built a batch of ships in Japan recently, but I didn't pay any money. It's probably like this. I don't need to worry about chartering these ships, so they are very safe."

After thinking about it for a while, Sandas said frankly: "Actually, Bao Yu just asked me for a shipping loan, and he asked for 100 million US dollars. You know, now I only trust you, so I am not very relieved about this loan."

Lin Zhichao was taken aback for a moment, it turned out that this was the willingness!
But he didn't say anything, after all, he couldn't get involved in this matter.

Sandas didn't say much about it, he already knew it in his heart.

In his view, the Japanese market has already been occupied by Lin Zhichao, and it is difficult for Bao Yugang to make great achievements; even if HSBC lends him a loan, he may not be able to find customers after buying a boat.

What's more, now HSBC is tied to the ship of Global Shipping, and the cooperative companies of the two parties are making a lot of money.So at this time, there is no reason to support another person to affect the interests of the cooperative company.

The next day.

Bao Yugang came to Sanders' office and asked about the result of the loan.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bao! This loan is too risky, I can't agree to it!"

Bao Yugang seemed to hear a thunderbolt from the blue sky, and then quickly stabilized his mind and said: "Why? Mr. Sanders, your HSBC Bank has not only provided loans to the shipping industry, but even participated in the shipping industry in person. Don't you think the shipping industry is regarded as 'Black Book'?"

Sanders said: "We no longer regard shipping as a black book, but shipping is still a risky industry. Your strength is not enough to reassure us. I hope you will take it step by step and not expand too fast."

After that, no matter what Bao Yugang said, Sandas would not let go.

Until Bao Yugang said: "I have a boat, and I have renewed the contract with a Japanese client for four years, with an annual profit of nearly 30 US dollars. I am willing to go to Japan to open a letter of credit, and I hope you can lend us a loan."

It's this drama again, Sandas thought calmly in his mind.

"Even if you get a letter of credit, I can't lend you a million dollars!"

As soon as Bao Yu heard it, his heart immediately became active, and he climbed along the pole; "It doesn't need 100 million US dollars, but 50 US dollars is fine. Our shareholders have already raised 100 million US dollars, and we can buy two more boats."

He took a step back, otherwise it would be difficult to buy two boats for $100 million.If there is another 150 million US dollars, then two [-]-ton freighters can be purchased.

At this time, Sandas began to think about the gains and losses. With a letter of credit guaranteeing one of the contracts, the risk of HSBC's $50 was relatively small.

Moreover, the shipping situation is still good now, and the two ships can definitely be rented out.

"Okay, go and get the letter of credit!"

Although Bao Yugang was a little disappointed, he still hurriedly said, "No problem!"

(End of this chapter)