Started from Hong Kong Island

Chapter 265 [Snatch]

King Bao's opinion of Li Wendi changed again. This young man was a bit like a hungry wolf, eyeing his prey covetously and not allowing others to covet it. The important thing was that Li Wendi was too young. It didn't matter when he was alive, but none of the younger generation of the Bao family was his match.

Therefore, the charter king is considering whether to move the plan of going ashore earlier so that he will have more time to leave more cards.

In fact, Li Wendi did not have any idea about the charter king. He just didn't want anyone to covet the Wharf Group like he did. That was his heirloom. Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui and the tram repair shop in Causeway Bay were both in his pocket.

The ship charter king was a very honest person. Although he said that the ship would be delivered in August, he squeezed out two 100,000-ton cargo ships from other orders and transferred them to Li Wendi's shipping investment company first.

This unexpected surprise made Li Wendi want to make friends with the ship charter king, the pride of the Chinese, even more. However, Li Wendi also became busy, looking for orders for the two ships. In the end, the two ships became long-term transport ships for the food company, and the rental price was of course the current market price.

The funding for the ships was financed by the company paying half and the other half being loans. This would maximize the number of the company's ships and bring in greater profits. This would, of course, increase the company's burden, but shipping is now booming, and this little interest is just a drop in the bucket and will not affect the company's operations for the time being.

Qi Nian Newspaper
Li Wendi was reading the report documents of the toy company. Although He Qijun was in charge, he still had to know what he should know. He could not just sit back and do nothing after things were done.

Since the oil crisis, the price of raw materials for toys has risen to a very high level. It was thought that after the oil crisis was lifted, the price of raw materials would drop a little. However, it did drop a little, but it was still 60% higher than the price before the crisis. It only dropped by 5%, which has no effect on the overall situation.

"The raw materials that the toy company has stockpiled have all been used up, and even the worn-out toys have been recycled. Now that raw materials are so expensive, the price of our toys must be raised, otherwise we will face losses." He Qijun continued, "Once the price increases, it is very likely to affect the current sales volume. It is really a dilemma."

"What's the situation with other peers? How much have the prices increased?" Li Wendi closed the document and asked He Qijun.

"Most of our peers have seen a 30% increase, with a few seeing a 40% increase," He Qijun said calmly.

"Then how much increase do we need to make money?" Li Wendi asked again.

"A 10% increase is the only way we can survive." He Qijun thought about it and told him the previous plan.

Li Wendi took out a calculator, did some calculations, and said, "Then I'll increase the price by 20%, and try to make small profits but quick turnover, while not making it too difficult for my peers."

"Let's say 25%. If it's 10% less, our peers will have some opinions. Let's not get into trouble for the time being." He Qijun didn't want the toy company to become a copy of the Qinian Newspaper. Besides, the Qinian Newspaper was not as rich as Li Wendi.

"Okay! You decide." Li Wendi added, "Let my shipping investment company handle the transportation business for the toy factory. It's better to keep the money within the family."

"But the contracts between the toy company and other shipping companies have not yet expired. Canceling the contracts individually will require payment of a large amount of liquidated damages," He Qijun reminded.

"The contract signed by the toy company is for three years and is about to expire. Moreover, shipping rents are rising rapidly nowadays. The shipping company may want to get rid of the burden of the toy company." Li Wendi laughed. This would certainly increase the burden on the toy company. Even if there is still some time before the expiration, it can save some money for the toy company. Unfortunately, Li Wendi doesn't care.

Because the shipping industry was so competitive, there were four shipping tycoons in Hong Kong alone: ​​Zhao Congyan, Cao Wenjin, Tung Chao Yung, and Pao Yu-kang (Xu Aizhou had started to go ashore in the 50s), and the four major trading companies also had a large number of shipping vessels.

He Qijun also made concessions, but these matters still needed Li Wendi to negotiate, and He Qijun didn't care much about it.

The toy company has high profits and has become an important industry of the Qinian Newspaper. In addition, the toy company needs to pay a large agency fee to the Qinian Newspaper (Li Wendi has a lot of shares in the toy company).

Metropolitan Real Estate Company
This is Gao Yi’s old nest. Gao Yi usually stays in Ducheng Real Estate, and Mingcheng Real Estate Company only goes there on fixed dates.

Following the direction given by Li Wendi, Gao Yi has made great progress in industrial land and industrial buildings, and has acquired a large number of industrial buildings and land in Kwai Chung, Kowloon Bay and Tuen Mun.

Since Wenyan Construction Company (formerly Wenyan Decoration Engineering Company) had limited staff and the talents recruited were not yet able to work independently, the industrial land under the Capital Real Estate Company could only be entrusted to other construction companies for development, in an effort to rent it out when the real estate market recovered significantly in 76.

As for why not choose to sell?

Li Wendi believes that the price of industrial buildings built in 76 is still very low. If they are sold at that time, they may need to be bought back in the future. Li Wendi still wants to speculate on industrial buildings. Although they are not as profitable as commercial buildings, they are better than other business projects. "The Tuen Mun project can be put aside for now. Our main targets now are Kwai Chung and Kowloon Bay, and Kowloon Bay is the most important one." Li Wendi crossed his fingers on the desk, "I think the company's funds are still sufficient. The price of industrial buildings in Kowloon Bay is still 73% to 7% lower than the peak in 8. Industrial buildings with a price of tens of dollars per square foot can be purchased in large quantities."

Gao Yi was silent for a moment, and then said, "I think it will be very difficult for the price of industrial buildings to rise. The current vacancy rate of industrial buildings is as high as 4%. If we buy a large amount of them, our return on investment will be very slow."

Nowadays, the rent of office buildings in Central is 5 to 6 yuan per square foot, and the rent of shops is expensive, up to 100 yuan per square foot. However, the rent of industrial buildings is ridiculously low, less than 1 yuan per square foot. Even for an industrial building with a floor area of ​​50 square feet, the monthly rent is only more than 20 yuan, and there is no vacancy rate.

Even if the local market recovers and industrial buildings rise in value, monthly rents will not exceed $1 per square foot in the short term.

If the situation is better, perhaps the rent can offset the bank's interest, but the building management fees, maintenance fees, etc. will all be losses.

It seems that it is not profitable, but in fact it is maintained by holding the company's funds. When the price goes up, you can make a fortune. According to the current situation, it is not a problem to make a profit of the principal.

However, Gao Yi holds a pessimistic attitude. If the price of industrial buildings does not rise as expected, or continues to fall, the burden on Capital Real Estate Company will become extremely heavy.

Gao Yi is not Zhang Wentao. He is unlikely to blindly obey Li Wendi and usually has his own ideas.

"The signs of a recovery in the real estate market are already very clear." Li Wendi glanced at Gao Yi and continued, "Doing business has always been risky. Only with high risks can there be high returns. If everything develops steadily, when will Metropolitan Real Estate Company be able to compete with large Chinese companies and challenge the position of Hong Kong Land?"

"But your idea is also good for the company. The company can't just keep pushing forward. How about this? Go back and make a plan to work with Mingcheng Real Estate to acquire industrial buildings in Kowloon Bay. How much will be beneficial to the company? Even if the bad situation in 73 and 74 happens again, it will affect the company's operations."

Of course Li Wendi couldn't simply condemn Gao Yi, after all, he was a general under his command.

Gao Yi was satisfied to see that the boss had adopted his suggestion, so he turned around to report other matters.

"We have encountered two strong competitors in the industrial land sector, one is Eagle Properties Limited and the other is Lok Koo Properties Limited. They are both aggressively attacking the industrial land sector. As for other competitors, they are all companies that pose no threat to us," Gao Yi reported.

Hearing this, Li Wendi frowned slightly and thought for a moment. The strength of Eagle Properties was not weak. It only suffered small losses in the crisis in 74. It was natural for it to attack the industrial building as it did in the previous life. However, the Legu Real Estate Company, which had always been as steady as an old dog, also had its eyes on the industrial building. This made Li Wendi a little confused.

It is possible that Li Wendi does not know as much about the Legu Real Estate Company as he does about the Eagle Properties Company. After all, the Legu Real Estate Company in its previous life was very low-key and there is not much information recorded about it.

"Are they bidding for our acquisition target?" asked Li Wendi.

Gao Yi nodded. "Legu Real Estate Company and the boss have a history, and you are a shareholder of Legu Real Estate Company. Legu Real Estate Company is relatively polite, and we will give way to each other. However, the offensive of Eagle Real Estate Company is a bit fierce, and it has already snatched two industrial buildings from us."

Li Wendi's expression returned to normal. It was normal to have competition. It was impossible for Eagle Properties to occupy the entire market. However, Li Wendi was still unwilling to engage in a "hand-to-hand fight" with Eagle Properties. It was all for the sake of making money, not for a fight.

"We can bid a little with Eagle Properties, but don't let them take the property at too low a price. We should first acquire as many industrial buildings and land as possible, and put the grudges aside." Li Wendi said gloomily, "A gentleman's revenge is never too late."

Li Wendi didn't expect that the old guy Luo Yingshi was so ruthless, but when he thought about it, it made sense. Without any skills, how could he build an empire in Hong Kong?

Gao Yi suggested, "Boss, you are familiar with Legu Real Estate Company. Why don't we join forces with Legu Real Estate Company? Eagle King Real Estate Company will definitely back off."

Hearing this, Li Wendi nodded, "That's a good idea! Okay, I'll contact Legu Real Estate Company, but you shouldn't relax about the acquisition plan. Even if it's a cooperation, we still have to have our own project."

"Okay, I understand!" Gao Yi said with a slight smile, obviously he was a little emotional about the Eagle Real Estate Company's seizure of the industrial building. Of course, Li Wendi couldn't care less about these things.

(End of this chapter)