The Birth of the Hong Kong Island Family.

Chapter 231 [Daving in Aviation]

Worldwide shipping.

In the conference room, Lin Zhichao and a group of high-level executives are having a meeting.

"Deputy General Manager Feng, go to Europe and America to investigate and see if there are any suitable second-hand tankers!"

Feng Yongfa nodded and said, "Okay, I'll arrange work and start as soon as possible."

At this time, Lin Zhichao had already handed over the work of purchasing second-hand ships and supervising the construction of new ships to Feng Yongfa and other high-level officials with confidence; Clients meet.

Well-informed is the ultimate requirement for shipping. Although Lin Zhichao has the memory of his previous life to assist him, he still can't be a "frog at the bottom of the well"; after a year, he will go abroad at least four or five times, one time for half a month.

Next, Lin Zhichao said again: "Manager Gao, go to Japan and get in touch with Yamaguchi Steamship, Nippon Steamship, and Sanko Steamship to see if they are willing to lease second-hand freighters. The lease can be about 3 to 7 years. Rent can be very low”

Gao Qiqiang immediately said: "No problem, I will definitely have a good talk with them."

He understood what the boss meant, and thought that the boss wanted to compensate the three companies, because the lease term and rent offered were very favorable to Japanese shipping companies.

About a 25-ton second-hand cargo ship, the global shipping profit is 30 to [-] US dollars. If it is based on the value of the ship, it will take about two and a half years to pay back. .

However, operating second-hand ships all the time will create bottlenecks in the development of a company.Therefore, although second-hand ships make money, when the scale increases, new ships must be built.

Lin Zhichao suddenly arranged for his subordinates to visit three important Japanese customers. In fact, he also had a small child in his heart.

These three shipping companies are Japan's shipping giants and the cornerstone of global shipping's Japanese business.

He can't allow someone to dig a corner!

of course.

This situation cannot be avoided in the later stage, but we must try our best to recover some losses.

Time flies, and a month passes in a blink of an eye.

mid-June.

In order to suppress the overheated real estate speculation, the Hong Kong government introduced measures to regulate the sale of uncompleted properties.It is stipulated that developers must invest a certain amount of funds in real estate under construction before they can sell uncompleted properties;

After these measures were introduced, the real estate market did not collapse immediately.

Because these measures actually only hit some small-scale developers and large-scale real estate developers who invested too aggressively.

For example, it is stipulated that the developer must invest a certain amount of funds in the real estate under construction. 'This article has little actual impact on Lin Zhichao, Li Gaofu, Airship Tai, Liao Baoshan, Zhang Jinji, Dasheng Real Estate, etc., because everyone has sufficient funds;

However, the risks for big real estate developers such as Li Kangjie and Chen Detai came out, because they were short of funds at the beginning, relying on "sales of unplanned properties" to develop rapidly, and later robbed many lands at high prices, and they only paid 10% of the funds for these lands , Once the uncompleted property cannot be sold, the land fee cannot be paid, let alone the construction fee.

For example, 'the money from the sale of flats must be earmarked and not used for other purposes'. This clause also limits the possibility of someone taking the money from the sale of flats to continue buying land.

However, the real estate is already on the verge of falling, and it may fall at any time.

The key is that fewer and fewer people are buying buildings in the market, but more and more buildings will be completed.

Some people estimate that 1957 buildings will be completed in 2000 (including all the buildings in Hong Kong, including two or three storey tenement arcades), and no less than 1958 buildings will be completed in 1500 (the investment amount will increase, and it is expected to reach 7 million Hong Kong dollars about).

For a time, the storm was coming.

Lin Zhichao had just returned from his investigation in Europe and America, and when he heard the news, he was secretly happy.

He has a lot of cash flow, but no investment situation.Cheung Kong has 1.2 million funds (some of which have not yet been collected), and Cheung Kong has a cash flow of more than 8000 million. As for global shipping, needless to say, the money is already moldy.

For the stock market, Lin Zhichao is not familiar with the situation in Japan and the United States, so he will definitely not invest; for Lin Zhichao, the Hong Kong stock market is too small, and the investment is of little significance.

Therefore, Lin Zhichao would rather have idle funds than invest rashly.

If land and property prices plummet, I believe there will be a good opportunity to buy bottoms, and you can release some funds, but only slightly.

"Boss, now other real estate developers have accumulated a large number of unsold residential units. Like Liao Chongxing Real Estate, Gaofu Real Estate, Lixin Real Estate, etc., there are at least two or three unsold properties; and like Li Kangjie, Chen Detai These aggressive real estate developers not only have a lot of high-priced land that has not yet been developed, but also a large number of unsold properties that have started construction, and life is very difficult now." Hu Zhaoxu is like a bag who knows the market situation like the palm of his hand.

These were actually taught to him by Lin Zhichao.

Lin Zhichao said relaxedly: "Wait! I remember that these two companies are law firms that are collecting 'off-the-plan funds'. Once the law firm realizes the risk and hears people's bewitching, it will definitely cut off the payment of funds to the two companies immediately. Plus If they have not paid off their land fees, the owners will not be able to support them if they ask them for money.”

Including a piece of land in North Point sold by Changjiang Properties, the funds were also not collected.Of course, Lin Zhichao was not in a hurry. If Li Kangjie and others couldn't pay, he would take back the land, and the deposit could not be refunded.

Hu Zhaoxu immediately said: "Land and property prices are already falling, and they will fall sharply. At that time, there will be many real estate auctioned by banks and law firms in the market, so we can take advantage of the low price to increase the 'reserve land'."

In the conversation between the two, those real estate developers who expanded too fast were regarded as lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

Lin Zhichao came to the HSBC Building, led by the staff, and walked into the office of Douglas, Chairman of HSBC.

"Call Manager Sanders!"

"Okay, Mr. Chairman."

Douglas asked his assistant to invite Sanders, presumably because of the close relationship between Lin Zhichao and Sanders. After all, Sanders has a contribution to the global shipping today.

Without the loan from HSBC, Lin Zhichao's fleet would not develop so fast.

After a while, Sandas came to Douglas' office.

"Mr. Lin, this time I invite you to my office. We HSBC intend to invite you to be a director of our board of directors. What do you think?"

Lin Zhichao was taken aback, he didn't expect it to be so fast.He also considered that HSBC would invite him to the board of directors as a director; even HSBC would invite him to serve as the vice chairman of the board.

However, HSBC currently has a Chinese vice chairman, Xu Aizhou.

Therefore, if Lin Zhichao joined, wouldn't HSBC have two Chinese directors.Although it may not be so strange in later generations, this is Hong Kong in the 50s, which is still very unexpected.

Anyway, that's a good thing.

Lin Zhichao immediately said: "This is my honor! I have always been very optimistic about the development of HSBC, because its reputation has won the hearts of Hong Kong people. As a place where the East and the West meet, Hong Kong's financial industry will be very developed in the future, and HSBC will surely It will go out of Hong Kong and become a world-class bank."

No way, he also wants to rely on HSBC, so there is no shame in flattering.

What's more, HSBC's reputation is indeed invincible in Hong Kong. 60% of Hong Kong's deposits flow into HSBC; HSBC's stock has become the first choice for Hong Kong stockholders. It is a folk saying that I am buying a pension myself.

Douglas said happily: "Well, it's settled like this. We will hold a board meeting later, and you are welcome to join!"

The top executives of HSBC Bank unanimously agreed to add Lin Zhichao, a Chinese director, because everyone thinks that Lin Zhichao is simply a business genius, especially his understanding of the shipping cycle is very accurate; in addition to business achievements, there is Lin Zhichao in Hong Kong. Influence in the mind, which is also very helpful for HSBC.

Lin Zhichao nodded and said, "Thank you Chairman Douglas for your trust!"

After we chatted for a while.

Lin Zhichao also suddenly mentioned a proposal: "Chairman Douglas, manager of Sanders, what do you think of Hong Kong Airlines, if Huanyu Airlines acquires it, what is your opinion?"

Douglas and Sanders were surprised.

They did not expect that Lin Zhichao, a Chinese, was so bold that he wanted to acquire a purely British company.

Hong Kong Airlines, an airline based in Hong Kong, is the second airline in Hong Kong to provide civil aviation services.The main shareholders of Hong Kong Airlines are Jardine Matheson and British Overseas Airways (BOAC, the predecessor of British Airways). During the operation period, the shareholding ratio of the two companies has changed significantly, so both companies have dominated the operation of Hong Kong Airlines.Hong Kong Airlines' fleet is mainly composed of DC-3 and Vickers Viscount.

Hong Kong Airlines was established in 1947, and British Overseas Airways was the largest investor.At that time, Huaxia implemented an open sky policy, allowing two of the airlines in the two places to fly to Huagang.Therefore, British Overseas Airways operates routes to and from the mainland through Hong Kong Airlines.

At that time, a large number of wealthy refugees from the mainland came to Hong Kong to escape the war, which made the routes operated by Hong Kong Airlines to and from the mainland very busy. At that time, there were more than 4 flights a day to and from Guangdong alone; After the founding of New China, naturally, the route from Hong Kong to the mainland was completely stopped.

Currently, Hong Kong Airlines serves only four routes: Japan, Taiwan Island, South Korea, and Manila.For the route arrangement in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong government assigns the area to the north to Hong Kong Airlines and the area to the south to Cathay Pacific.

Therefore, Cathay Pacific's route is Southeast Asia, and it can also fly to Europe and the United States.But it is obviously unrealistic to fly directly to Europe and the United States at present, so Cathay Pacific is not much stronger.

Douglas then said: "Hong Kong Airlines has been dominated by Jardine Matheson and British Overseas Airways in turn. The reason is that it has been in a state of loss. Investing in such a company is obviously risky, and Mr. Lin has never operated an airline company."

Lin Zhichao said: "Chairman Douglas, if the aviation industry wants to make money, the economy of a region must reach a certain level, or the global economy must reach a certain level. Hong Kong's economy has developed smoothly in recent years, and its industry has developed very fast. In 20, overseas companies will enter Hong Kong one after another, and overseas tourists will also come to Hong Kong to travel. Based on this, if we invest in Hong Kong Airlines and work hard for [-] years, we may not be able to become a golden rooster for placing orders."

Sanders also raised a question: "Although Universal Shipping is making money, it will build oil tankers and continue to develop shipping in the future. If it allocates funds to develop the aviation industry, and it is an investment that lasts for 20 years, will it affect shipping?"

Lin Zhichao immediately said: "Of course we want to earn money from shipping. But if we miss a golden rooster that placed an order, we will never have another chance in the future."

Without HSBC, there is no hope at all.If HSBC holds 40% of the shares in the acquisition of Hong Kong Airlines, BOAC may consider it.

As for Jardine, they will not give up this opportunity. They can not only get a sum of money, but also get rid of this long-term loss-making enterprise.

And the reason why Lin Zhichao is now challenging the British-funded company is because the opportunity cannot be lost, and the loss will never come again.

In his previous life, Bao Yugang also wanted to enter the aviation industry, but he was completely defeated. If Lin Zhichao had developed the aviation industry in the 80s in this life, he would have failed.The reason is simple, the rules are fixed for you, and there is nothing you can do if you have money.

Therefore, there is only one chance in one or two years.

If it is not successful, the idea of ​​entering the aviation industry will be cut off.

Both Douglas and Sandas are considering this issue. Of course, they are considering the interests of HSBC. As for the others, they will be left to Lin Zhichao.

"Do you have any plans for the development of Huanyu Shipping Company?" Douglas reconfirmed.

At present, Huanyu Shipping can earn more than 1800 million US dollars a year, and HSBC holds 40% of the shares, that is, it can pay 720 million US dollars in dividends every year; of course, no one mentions dividends.

Obviously, HSBC has changed its original intention and has shown great interest in shipping, especially with Lin Zhichao at the helm.

"Yes! It is estimated that in the late 50s, we will arrange funds to continue building 60-ton oil tankers. The [-]s happened to be a period of global economic growth, and the demand for oil must be very strong. At that time, this company will have nearly one million tons of oil tankers. The problem of funds , I think both of us have the strength to continue to inject capital into the operation!"

After all, HSBC invested a total of less than 1200 million US dollars at the beginning, but the profit was frighteningly high!

In the end, Douglas was persuaded by Lin Zhichao and said: "We need to hold a high-level meeting to think about it, and I will give you an answer later!"

Lin Zhichao knew that at least Douglas and Sanders had agreed.

Walking out of HSBC Bank, Lin Zhichao showed a determined expression on his face. There is nothing to fear in British capital, even in this era; among the four major foreign banks in Hong Kong, Swire Pacific is the only one that is "unbreakable", but at this time it also has weaknesses. That is, Hong Kong Airlines has not yet received its subordinates.

Just as Bao Yu returned to Hong Kong from Japan, he immediately received the concerns of Bao Zhaolong, Bao Yuxing and others.

"How is it? Has the boat been rented out?" Bao Zhaolong asked eagerly.

There is no way, family and friends raised funds, plus bank loans, and finally raised 150 million US dollars.Then I bought two 27-ton second-hand ships in the European market. The age of the ships has reached 70 years, and the asking price is still [-] US dollars.

The service life of a ship is about 40 years.Although it may not necessarily be scrapped after 40 years, the operating cost will definitely increase greatly, and it will be made things difficult by the port.

Bao Yugang said: "The charter quotas of several large shipping companies are already full, and only one medium-sized shipping company is willing to sign a four-year charter for two freighters. The rent will pay back the rent in the past three years."

Everyone was a little surprised at such a cheap price!

Bao Yuxing said: "It doesn't make sense, brother, didn't you say that the current market will pay back in less than two and a half years?"

Bao Yugang said: "The ships of several large shipping companies are full, and they all have a deep cooperative relationship with Global Shipping. As a small shipping company, it is difficult for us to break into their business. If there is a medium-sized shipping company willing to charter , is already a very good result, the Japanese are very aggressive in lowering prices.”

Bao Zhaolong pondered for a moment, and then asked puzzledly: "Although what you said is reasonable, but large shipping companies need a lot of ships, not to mention that we can lower the price, they have no reason to be indifferent."

Bao Yugang said: "It is said that recently they have rented enough long-term ships. They are all ships for global voyages, and the prices are very cheap."

Only then did Bao Zhaolong understand, and said: "It seems that you are one step too late. The ships in Lin Zhichao's hands have made a lot of money in the past year. After the opening of the Suez Canal, he leased them to Japanese shipping companies at a low price for the first time. It seems that , it is still very difficult for you to compete with him!"

Bao Yugang was also a little discouraged, because he found that he was a shipowner following others; the important thing is that HSBC and Japan Shipping Company absolutely supported Lin Zhichao, not him as a small shipowner.

After a while, Bao Yu just said: "It's okay, at least we have three boats rented out!"

Bao Zhaolong warned: "Since things have fallen behind, you should think about playing it safe and not rushing forward."

Bao Yugang also figured it out. Without strong bank support and business priorities, he simply couldn't quickly expand shipowners.

Now he has three boats, and he has to wait a year to buy a fourth boat.

This speed of development is far from what he expected.

What Bao Yugang didn't know was that according to the history of his previous life, he could expand seven ships in the first year.First of all, his second-hand ship was about to expire before the Suez Canal crisis. In this way, the renewal of the contract at several times the high price gave him the strength to buy several ships; secondly, HSBC would also agree Higher loan; finally, Nippon Shipping was more than happy to sign him to a long-term contract.

It is enough for Lin Zhichao to do a "game" once, which is enough to change Bao Yugang's fate.

As for the sudden chartering business of the three major shipping companies is full, of course there are Lin Zhichao's tricks, but it can only be said that the impact is small.

Lin Zhichao doesn't hate Bao Yugang and Li Jiacheng, but he must weaken his competitors in advance.

If it is really annoying, I am afraid that even more severe methods will come out.

There is no room for two tigers in one mountain!
(End of this chapter)