Hong Kong Island's New Rich Era

Chapter 285 Lack of Money
The stock market opens at nine in the morning.

Benefiting from the positive impact of the acquisition of Manhattan Building, Whampoa Group began to soar, and soon appreciated by 5%, with a market value of 1052 billion Hong Kong dollars, which is incredible.

However, the net asset value of Whampoa Group is around HK$1500 billion.

Therefore, its market value still has a lot of room to grow this year (1992), and a market value of HK$1200 billion is entirely expected.

This is because the Hang Seng Index peaked in June this year and has been in a sideways and adjustment phase in the second half of the year.

Liu Zhicheng soon stopped caring about the surge in Huangpu Group's stock price. In his opinion, it was all a matter of nature.

He no longer needs to hype up Huangpu Group's stocks, as naturally there will be countless investors chasing after them.

Liu Zhicheng arrived at Hongli Investment early. The USD/JPY closed at 121 points yesterday, plummeting 2.2% throughout the day and once fell to 120.5 points, which made him overjoyed.

毕竟他的记忆里——1992年最低是120点、1993年最低是100点、1995年是80点。

Now that the index has reached the lowest level this year, what reason does he have not to close his position?
After all, there are still three months left, and the price may rise to around 125 points. It is entirely possible to make a difference and also recover a large amount of funds.

Even if it does not rise to 12 points in December, no matter what index it is, he will take out funds to short sell again. Next year will be another year of appreciation of the yen.

"Have you notified Smith to close his foreign exchange positions?" Liu Zhicheng asked as soon as he saw Huang Zuxu.

The decline was quite sudden, falling directly from above 124 points to 121 points, so Smith is still in charge in the United States.

Wu Zuxu said: "Notified, all positions below 122 points will be closed."

Liu Zhicheng nodded. If the closing of the position went smoothly, he would make a profit of more than 40 billion Hong Kong dollars and recover more than 55 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Adding the cash flow of HK$35 billion in hand, the total cash flow is HK$90 billion; of course, Hongli Investment also has a loan of HK$35 billion.

This money will be spent quickly. Financial investments such as gold futures and foreign exchange must continue, and the company also needs to purchase convertible bonds of the Whampoa Group (to avoid dilution of shares due to rights issue).

The Whampoa Group needs to issue bonds worth HK$30 billion by the end of the year to maintain its cash flow at more than HK$ to HK$ billion.

To ensure that they can acquire the 'land king' in Hong Kong next year (every time the real estate season comes, the Hong Kong government will launch the land king to drive up land and house prices).

At the same time, it also ensures that we can make great strides in the mainland and overseas next year.

Because Liu Zhicheng knew the real estate development in Hong Kong, he estimated that Whampoa Group's profit next year might be more than HK$140 billion.

In addition to the growth of real estate development, rental properties will be the second largest growth point. It can be said that Huangpu Group will have a better time next year.

Liu Zhicheng continued, “Please inform George that we will enter the gold futures market at the end of the year and ask him to arrange for the company to prepare.

The amount of funds is 10 billion, the leverage is 20 times, and the influence must be reduced and confidentiality must be maintained. "

Huang Zuxu nodded and said, "Okay, I'll arrange the business in Hong Kong, and then go on a business trip to the United States, and I'll tell him at that time."

The assets of Hongli Investment are already quite large, with an asset value of more than 400 billion Hong Kong dollars, second only to Liu Zhicheng's company equity wealth.

Liu Zhicheng is more worried about one thing. Next year, the United States will officially rank the world's wealth list, and he will undoubtedly be the world's richest man.

Because the market value of Whampoa Group is estimated to be HK$1200 billion by the end of the year, the market value of Asia Television is HK$150 billion, and the market value of Crocodile Group is HK$120 billion.

His shares in these three companies alone were worth more than $100 billion by the end of the year, not counting other unlisted companies.

He remembered that the world's richest man in 1993 was either Buffett, worth about US$85 billion, or Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, whose company was not listed, worth about US$90 billion.

In short, there is almost no suspense about Liu Zhicheng.

In fact, it is estimated that he will hold the title of the world's richest man for at least several consecutive terms until Microsoft truly grows, which is probably after 1996, when he will lose the title of the world's richest man.

This is a difficult situation. Liu Zhicheng no longer wants to be in the limelight, but the share price of Whampoa Group has soared too fast, causing his book wealth to expand greatly.

However, this has two sides. One is that it can bring more channels and convenience to Liu Zhicheng's business. The other is that being "too famous" can easily cause jealousy.

There's no point in thinking about it, just let it go.

In early October, Liu Zhicheng led a group of people to the mainland again and signed 10 projects in one go, with a total investment of 10 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Although Liu Zhicheng invested 300 billion Hong Kong dollars in the past year, he actually only took out 60 billion, and the rest was taken out through loans;

Even the 60 billion yuan of funds can be taken out within about a year and a half.

Liu Zhicheng calculated that this year's mainland investment was almost only equal to the Shanghai World Financial Center.

With so much investment, Liu Zhicheng thought that he might not be able to escape the criticism from mainland netizens in the future.

He didn't care. After all, with his romantic personality, he would definitely have a bad reputation.

However, he does avoid a few things:
He does not invest in projects that destroy ancient buildings, such as the Oriental Plaza and Sanqi Alley in his previous life;

Try to avoid hoarding land without developing it. Hoarding land is inevitable, but the development rate will definitely be more than 7% in the end;

Long-term investment, cashing out in 2015 will be appropriate (strategic cashing out, not more than Lao Li), and Huangpu Plaza and Commercial Building will not be cashed out, but used for long-term rental collection;

Avoid investing too much in infrastructure projects to avoid becoming a 'toll collector'. The government can redeem them at an appropriate price (when the government decides to provide them for free) to avoid public outrage.

This year, Liu Zhicheng once again completed the feat of donating 2 million yuan in personal donations, which were for the education cause of Sichuan and Guangdong provinces, mainly for basic schools and supplemented by universities.

This is no longer just paying insurance premiums, but rather a bit of kindness on the part of Liu Zhiben himself. He feels that 200 million Hong Kong dollars is nothing to him, but perhaps it can help others.

He also donated overseas, but only one-tenth of that in the mainland.

.........

Friday, September 10st.

Huangpu Group's office, Hao Qingwen went to Liu Zhicheng's office,

Hao Qingwen, who had just returned from a study tour in Canada, went back to work at the company without having time to get a good rest.

Liu Zhicheng did not praise him for his desperate working style, but instead taught him, "You are now the president of a multinational company, and you can't even arrange your own rest time.

The company has so many senior staff members that you can bring along when you go on inspections, so you don’t have to do everything yourself. Also, I hope that you senior executives can train the company’s management team.”

Hao Qingwen quickly said: "Boss is right, I will pay attention to it next time."

Liu Zhicheng nodded in satisfaction and said, "Well. Tell me, what did you gain?"

Hao Qingwen took a sip of the brewed tea, sorted out his thoughts, and then reported: "We have reached a preliminary agreement with Canada Marathoy (the real estate branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company) to jointly develop the Gaohao Port new town and tourist area.

The port covers an area of ​​64 acres, and the initial plan is to build 2200 luxury residential units, 220 million square feet of commercial building space, and a high-end hotel with 300 yacht berths.

Liu Zhicheng asked: "Does the Canadian side have any requirements?"

Hao Qingwen nodded and said, "They want us to set up a real estate company in Canada!"

Liu Zhicheng said: "That's no problem. I will go to Canada later to finalize this project."

By the way, Whampoa Group has a listed hotel company in Canada, which mainly operates three- and four-star executive hotels.

However, there is no need for this project to be under a listed company, as the profits are only half.

This project was actually introduced by Richman, and Liu Zhicheng also felt that it was very worthy of investment.

Although the return on investment in Canada is not high, because we are a developer, we can at least guarantee an annual return of more than 15%.

What’s more important is that you can also hold commercial buildings and hotels for a long time, which is very good.

In the past few years, many Chinese have immigrated to Canada, so there is no need to worry about sales.

Hao Qingwen continued, “There is also a project in Malaysia in progress, with a commercial space of 8.6 square feet in Johor Bahru (near Singapore).

If it is acquired, two 30-story office buildings/four- and five-star hotels and multi-story shopping malls can be built. The total rental area can reach 65 square feet, and an estimated investment of HK$10 billion is required.

Liu Zhicheng frowned slightly and said, "The plot ratio is so low, the investment is not small!"

Hao Qingwen nodded and said, "The real estate situation in Southeast Asia has been very good in recent years, thanks to the economic downturn in Europe and the United States, as well as the open policy in Southeast Asia."

Liu Zhicheng was relieved. The bubble economy in countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia was about to start, and would be very large by 1996.

Soros and other European and American international speculators discovered the bubbles in these countries in 1996 and then attacked them.

Of course he was not interested. How much money could Soros make from a sniper attack?

He doesn't even look down on it!

He prefers to boil a frog in warm water, taking advantage of the general trend in foreign exchange, gold, and oil, and slowly scraping away the fat. "Well, we'll also do the project in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and get it as soon as possible!"

"Ok!"

.........

Monday, August 1993, 1.

On the first working day after New Year's Day, Liu Zhicheng moved into the office on the 58th floor of Tin Shui Wai Whampoa Plaza.

This office is very large, about 1200 square feet, which is an astronomical figure for Hong Kong people and extremely luxurious.

A house of a thousand feet is called a mansion!

The reason why a luxury house is called a luxury house is mainly because of the importance of its environment.

This is also why Hong Kong people rarely settle in the mainland, Shanghai residents are reluctant to sell their houses to live in second-tier cities, and residents of second-tier cities are even less willing to sell their houses to live in the countryside.

Liu Zhicheng looked around the new environment in his office. It was simply and neatly decorated, without too many decorations to affect the visual experience.

This is the effect he wants!

The entire outer wall is made of glass curtain walls. Standing on the edge, the entire Tin Shui Wai and Deep Bay are within sight, giving you a feeling of dominating the world.

I feel quite relaxed!
After a while, Huangpu Group President Hao Qingwen came to his office.

"What else does the boss need?"

Liu Zhicheng waved his hand and said, "You don't need to buy anything. Keeping it simple is good enough."

Hao Qingwen nodded. He was just asking politely. After all, even if there was anything to buy, Han Chunxi would be there to serve the boss.

"Boss, the Hong Kong Real Estate Construction Chamber of Commerce has already planned to send representatives to meet with Financial Secretary McGrath to express our concerns and demands."

In the second half of last year, Hong Kong's low- and mid-range residential market was relatively sluggish and prices also dropped slightly. The biggest reason was the Hong Kong government's crackdown on the property market, and the 70% mortgage rate was like a curse.

This has made a number of real estate developers very unhappy. In the past, it was the market that determined the price trend, but now the Hong Kong government has become the one cracking down on the property market. This has made everyone very worried about the future trend of real estate.

Therefore, the real estate developers have once again "colluded" together and are planning to challenge the Hong Kong government.

Liu Zhicheng said: "I also received their invitation. I guess they are discussing self-mortgage. The Hong Kong government is pushing everyone into a corner!"

Hao Qingwen naturally stood firmly on the side of the real estate developers and said: "The financial companies under the major real estate companies all have the ability to provide mortgages on their own.

And once our financial companies take action, those small and medium-sized banks will be immediately frightened and will follow suit.”

Liu Zhicheng smiled and said, "Having said that, one day the matter will become a big deal, and then under the pressure of public opinion, the real estate developers will have to give in."

Seeing that Liu Zhicheng didn't look worried at all, Hao Qingwen also understood what his boss meant, which was that the Huangpu Group just didn't need to take the lead.

"Once housing prices rise again, it will be difficult for them to fall back, unless there is an external environment. No matter how hard the Hong Kong government suppresses them, it can only slow down the rise in real estate prices."

Liu Zhicheng did not comment or deny it, but he actually knew that real estate prices had fallen by 1994% from the second half of 1995 to the first half of .

However, the early stage of the rise was too sharp, so it can be ignored.

"By the way, real estate prices will definitely rise again this year, so I hope you can control the company and ask the agents and speculators not to make too much noise. You must reduce the proportion of internal sales. I don't want to be in the spotlight.

If employees buy houses, they can only buy houses for their immediate family members, and no other families are allowed to buy houses.”

Hao Qingwen nodded and said, "Okay!"

"Well, now everyone says that I am the largest real estate developer in Hong Kong, and I am under a lot of pressure. To be honest, I have never made any money from the Whampoa Group. On the contrary, I lose money every year."

Hao Qingwen sighed in his heart. The boss's meaning was very clear, that is, the Whampoa Group was not his entire wealth, and he did not want to affect its reputation too much in order to make money.

"Okay. By the way, Boss, the Hong Kong government may auction the 'Diamond Hill Land King' in February."

Everyone knows which areas in Hong Kong have land. When it comes to the Diamond Hill land king, Liu Zhicheng already knows where it is.

This piece of land is located at the foot of Diamond Hill, close to the entrance of the tunnel leading from Kowloon to Shatin in the New Territories, which was the Hollywood Plaza in the past.

Liu Zhicheng said: "We must get this piece of land. After all, if we don't bid now, the price of the official land auction by the Hong Kong government in the second half of the year will be even higher!"

Hao Qingwen knew that his boss liked to rent out properties, so he said, "This piece of land can be used to build 120 million square feet of residential buildings and a shopping mall worth about 70 square feet. It is indeed worth investing."

"Then get ready!"

"Ok"

After Hao Qingwen left, Liu Zhicheng couldn't help but think about it. The Hong Kong government auctioned the highest-priced land in February, which caught him off guard.

Of course, the Whampoa Group has a capital of up to HK$70 billion, while the Diamond Hill land king is worth at most HK$ billion, which is completely sufficient.

However, he is determined to win the London's 'Canary Wharf' project because it is a 'symbol of power'.

Liu Zhicheng couldn't help but sigh: I need money!

.........

When Liu Zhicheng came to the ATV building, he felt a sense of technology and modernity. The building and its equipment were all equipped with the most advanced technology.

In fact, all the buildings constructed in Hong Kong in the mid-to-late 1980s, both in appearance and interior, are already 21st century luxury buildings.

When you enter the ATV building, the first thing you see is a lobby. It is easy to run into celebrities passing by here, but it is not easy to run into Liu Zhicheng passing by.

There is also a "convenience store" in the lobby on the first floor. A large Pikachu doll and a Conan doll are placed at the door, which frequently attract young girls and boys to observe and touch them up close.

Liu Zhicheng was very satisfied with the layout.

"boss"

"Hi boss"

There was a constant flow of greetings for a while, and Liu Zhicheng nodded to everyone, but there was no idle chat.

When we arrived at the elevator, there was another round of greetings, but soon the elevator became unusually quiet, as if the air had frozen.

This made Liu Zhicheng laugh. Is he really that terrible?

He is not a serious person, he is always smiling and thinks he is a very friendly boss.

But he forgot that it was his height that made the staff and artists a little nervous.

It is not wrong to say that Liu Zhicheng holds the greatest power in Hong Kong's entertainment industry. After all, he is known as the 'Godfather of Hong Kong's entertainment industry'.

When he arrived at his office, Liu Zhicheng called Zhou Liang Shuyi.

Asked: "How are the ratings for Full House?"

Zhou Liangshuyi said excitedly: "Very good, the current audience rating is 55%. Even if it can't break the audience record of "Tan Yunxian", it's probably close to it.

What’s more, the public praised us for being able to film a Hong Kong drama in a comedy style, and they were very satisfied.”

Liu Zhicheng nodded. Not only citizens loved watching "Full House", but his women also loved it, and some of his friends also watched it.

This year, ATV's main Hong Kong comedy series, "Full House", "My Sassy Girl" and "My Sassy Teacher" have all been released.

In fact, Liu Zhicheng was not involved in these scripts. He just inspired the screenwriters of ATV based on a trace of memory, and then adapted them according to the characteristics of Hong Kong dramas - melodrama, romance, and coincidence.

There is such a saying in Korean dramas in the past:
The male lead is rich, the female lead is ordinary;

The male lead is very handsome and the female lead is cute.

The scenes are foreign and the scenery is beautiful;
Enemies meet on a narrow road, and chance encounters are inevitable.

The male one is a prince with syndrome, the female one is a grass-roots type;

Men like to act cool, which women can't stand.

In short, satisfy Cinderella's thoughts and let them daydream.

Of course, the male lead, the female lead, and the second male lead and the second female lead must be beautiful and handsome.

Then Liu Zhicheng said to Chow Liang Suk-yee: "Do you think it is necessary for us to set up a satellite TV network?"

(End of this chapter)