In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 71 The secret contest

Lin Haoran didn't pay much attention to the receptionist's inner fluctuations.

For him, he had no interest in engaging in any behavior that might cause conflict or slap in the face with such a person in order to gain pleasure or satisfaction.

Soon, Lin Haoran saw an old British man coming out of the elevator.

"Hello Mr. Lin, I am Halil Centurion, chairman of the board of directors of Qingzhou Yingni Company. Welcome to Qingzhou Yingni Company." Compared with the receptionist, the old man, Halil Centurion, chairman of the board of directors, seems to be much more humble.

However, Lin Haoran understood that in the business world, age is often proportional to experience, and those old men who have experienced many vicissitudes of life are "old foxes" who are well versed in human nature and strategies.

Therefore, he always remains highly vigilant against opponents like Khalil Centurion.

Lin Haoran understood that one cannot easily judge a person's ability and intentions based on appearance or initial impression, especially someone like Halil who seemed calm but was actually scheming and had been in power in Qingzhou Yingni for more than a decade.

Lin Haoran shook hands with him and said with a smile: "Hello, Mr. Halil, it's our first meeting. Please take care of me."

"Mr. Lin, let's go to the office and talk."

"okay."

The two took the elevator to the 5th floor of the building.

"Would you like something to drink, Mr. Lin?"

Khalil Centurion asked after sitting on the sofa.

"No, thank you!" Lin Haoran shook his head.

"I'm very curious, why is Mr. Lin interested in Qingzhou Yingni?" Halil Centurion looked at Lin Haoran and asked.

"I am very optimistic about Hong Kong's real estate industry, and cement is the most indispensable material in the real estate industry. I have learned about the performance of Qingzhou Yingni in recent years. Although the annual profit is not high, the future is definitely very promising. Therefore, holding shares of Qingzhou Yingni will definitely make money in the future." Lin Haoran said with a smile.

He has no intention of revealing his intentions towards Qingzhou Yingni for the time being.

Because Lin Haoran had a question in his mind.

He has studied in depth the financial statements published annually by Qingzhou Yingni. He was surprised to find that this seemingly large company had an annual profit of only more than 4 million Hong Kong dollars.

If Lin Haoran himself had not been involved in the building materials industry, he might not have had too many doubts about this.

However, he currently owns a Huafeng cement plant and is well aware of the profit potential in the building materials industry.

His Huafeng Cement Factory is just a medium-sized cement factory. Even though its scale is far smaller than that of Qingzhou Yingni, before the company was targeted, it could still bring the company a stable income of more than 100,000 or 200,000 Hong Kong dollars per month.

In comparison, the production scale of Qingzhou Yingni Cement Plant is several times larger than that of Huafeng, and its customer resources are unmatched in Hong Kong. The Qingzhou Yingni brand has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, but its annual profit seems so insignificant. How can this not make people wonder?
When Lin Haoran first looked through the financial statements, his first reaction was disbelief, especially the expenditure items, which seemed extremely strange.

He learned that the advantage of Qingzhou Cement lies not only in its complete production and sales system, but also in the fact that it owns three commercial buildings in Hung Hom, Kowloon. In addition to Qingzhou Building, which is used for its own use, the other two buildings can contribute more than 100,000 or 200,000 Hong Kong dollars in rental income each month, which theoretically should bring considerable additional profits to the company.

However, these factors, which should have become profit growth points, were not properly reflected in the financial statements, which further deepened his doubts about the authenticity of Qingzhou Yingni's financial situation.

Because Qingzhou Yingni's annual profits have remained at a low level in recent years, its stock price has also been hovering in a relatively low range.

Lin Haoran had a guess in his mind.

"Mr. Lin, how many Qingzhou Yingni shares do you currently hold, and what is the specific purpose of your holding these shares?" Halil Centurion directly and urgently raised the question that concerned him most.

After all, this issue directly touches on his personal interests and strategic layout.

Halil Centurion was not completely unaware of this. In fact, he had begun paying attention to the movements of the Qingzhou Yingni stock market as early as a month ago.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do.

Therefore, he now urgently hopes to understand Lin Haoran's shareholding situation and intentions to provide a reference for his next decision, and perhaps find a glimmer of hope to protect and expand his own interests.

Halil Centurion was born into a declining British aristocratic family. More than a decade ago, he went to Hong Kong with his family's last hope and resources. With some means and the help of friends, he finally succeeded in gaining control of the controlling stake in Ching Chau Cement.

However, the stability of this controlling stake is actually based on paying a considerable amount of "appeasement fee" to other British shareholders every year to maintain his position as chairman.

Under the cover of his position as chairman of Qingzhou Yingni, Halil secretly almost cut off the company's profits, leaving only a portion to be made public. For this reason, he has gained a lot of wealth from Qingzhou Yingni Company over the years.

However, all this wealth, like flowing water, eventually flowed into a large and heavily burdened family far away in the UK.

The family has many members, more than a hundred people, and the luxurious lifestyle they have developed over a long period of time has led to extremely huge annual expenses. Even though Qingzhou Yingni makes a lot of money every year, he still feels a little stressed. When the turmoil in the stock market touched his sensitive nerves, Halil immediately realized that Qingzhou Yingni might have become the target of certain forces.

Although he was alarmed, he also knew that with his financial resources and the current situation, it would be difficult for him to deal with the potential crisis alone.

This helplessness and pressure made him sigh that protecting this hard-earned controlling stake was far more difficult than he had imagined.

If Khalil Centurion had retained the profits he had earned from Qingzhou Cement over the years, he would have considerable financial resources, at least tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars in assets.

However, the reality is cruel. Most of the profits over the years have been used to support his large family, and now there is little left.

Faced with unknown competitors in the stock market, he realized that he might no longer be able to compete fiercely with others for capital.

Although he had considered using his position as chairman of Qingzhou Yingni to take out a loan to raise funds to compete with this unknown competitor, after careful consideration, he chose to give up.

He understands that although a loan can solve temporary difficulties, the high interest and repayment pressure that comes with it may make his already fragile financial situation worse.

More importantly, he was not sure what the outcome of this competition would be. If he failed, the consequences would be disastrous.

Eventually he gave up.

There are many more well-considered reasons behind Khalil Centurion's final decision to abandon the idea of ​​increasing his stake in Qingzhou Cement.

First, through meticulous observation and analysis, he keenly realized that his opponent had strong financial support, and even if he chose to increase his holdings by borrowing, he might not be able to gain the upper hand in this capital game. This clear self-awareness made him decide not to take blind risks.

Secondly, considering that borrowing money to purchase stocks will have a profound impact on his financial arrangements for many years to come, as the economic pillar of the family, he understands that he cannot ignore his financial support for the family for long.

Once he invests a large amount of money in the stock market, he will not be able to continue to meet the needs of his family members for several years, and will not be able to continue to maintain the family's honor as a "noble family".

Furthermore, time is unforgiving, and Khalil Centurion has entered the twilight of his life. Compared with those young and passionate businessmen, he cherishes the stability and peace in front of him more.

During the years in Yingni, Qingzhou, he achieved some success, but he had lost the reckless drive and courage he had in his youth.

Finally, and what worries him most, is the risk of failure.

If he fails in this stock market competition, he may not only lose all his money, but also face the dilemma of a sharp depreciation of the Qingzhou Yingni shares in his hands.

By then, if he wanted to get rid of these stocks, he would probably have to sell them at a very low price, which would be an unacceptable result for him.

So, in the end, he gave up the idea of ​​increasing his holdings and chose to observe secretly.

His biggest hope is that this unknown opponent is just a "dealer" who intends to cash out in the short term, rather than a powerful competitor who truly aims to seize control of Qingzhou Yingni.

When Halil Centurion learned that the person who had set his sights on Qingzhou Yingni’s shares was actually a young man, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Compared with those old foxes in the business world, Lin Haoran looked so young, which to some extent alleviated Halil's vigilance.

He understood that facing those experienced veterans, he might not be able to cope with it, and the control of Qingzhou Yingni might really fall into the hands of others.

But Lin Haoran's youth gave him hope of a great turnaround, a hope that he might be able to continue to retain controlling stake.

In Khalil's eyes, youth often means impulsiveness and inexperience, which is exactly the weakness he can exploit.

He began to think about how to use his experience, connections and in-depth understanding of Qingzhou Yingni to meet the challenge of this young opponent.

Khalil Centurion felt a surge of confidence in his heart. He thought that after years of working in the business world, the experience he had accumulated was enough for him to easily deal with a young man like Lin Haoran who was just starting out.

In his opinion, such an opponent is just a greenhorn who has not even grown all his feathers yet, and it is simply a fantasy to want to shake his position.

This confidence helped him to cheer up again, but Khalil also knew that blind confidence was not a good idea.

To this end, he wanted to know how many shares of the company Lin Haoran controlled and what his ultimate goal was.

The company's board members had already been bribed by him and basically obeyed him.

Therefore, Khalil Centurion believed that as long as the young man in front of him did not have as many stocks as he imagined, his position as chairman of the board would remain stable.

Looking at the young man in front of him, Khalil Centurion waited for his answer.

(End of this chapter)