Hong Kong 1980: The Savage Era

Chapter 229 [No one can fool anyone]

After Lin Xiufeng and his brother left the meeting room, the smile on Chen Songqing's face instantly disappeared and he returned to his serious look.

The remaining three people in the conference room were all his confidants, so there was no need for them to pretend.

Director He Guiquan said he was a director of the board of directors, but in fact he was Chen Songqing's deputy. Many things were handled by He Guiquan, and He Guiquan was the most powerful confidant in Chen Songqing's heart.

"Did these two idiots discover something? Just like Zhong Zhengwen." He Guiquan said with a frown.

Chen Songqing sneered and said, "It doesn't matter whether they know or not, or whether they discover it or not. Once they get on the boat, they have to help us, otherwise we will all sink into the sea together."

"Mr. Chen, everyone in Hong Kong knows that these two guys are idiots. Will the people at HSBC believe what they say at this time?" asked his confidant Lu Zhixuan calmly.

Chen Songqing spread his hands and said indifferently, "They are just one of the insurances. If we rely entirely on Brother Lin Xiufeng, how can we do anything? Don't worry, we can definitely get the 2 million loan from HSBC."

"If we get 2 million yuan from HSBC, which bank should we borrow the rest of the funds from? Is it Yumin Bank again?" asked the foreign accountant Bige.

Many of the accounts of the Jianing Company were made by this accountant, who deceived many banks, including HSBC, which shows how capable he is.

"No, Yumin Bank is our best backer. We already owe them HK$46 billion. It is not appropriate to increase the amount now." Chen Songqing said seriously, "Let's borrow from Standard Chartered Bank or foreign banks first."

"Has the audit by the Securities and Exchange Commission been completed?" Chen Songqing turned to look at Bigge and asked. This is an important link. If something goes wrong, Jianing Company will collapse in an instant.

"Please rest assured, Mr. Chen, they can't find anything." Bige said confidently.

"That's good! You can rest assured. After we get through this difficult time, Jianing Company will start to run its business properly and eliminate all the previous things. We will all be the most prominent people in Hong Kong." Chen Songqing continued to paint a big picture for his three confidants.

"Haha!" everyone laughed in unison.

Wednesday, May 11

Only three consortiums were interested in bidding for the Victoria Harbour site on Admiralty Road and submitted their bids to the Hong Kong government.

This news immediately caused a sensation in the real estate industry. Real estate developers had not expected the market to be so bad that there were not many consortiums bidding for the land in Central and Admiralty.

At around 3 p.m., Hong Kong government officials announced that the bid was too low and they had decided to withdraw it.

Soon, reporters got the details of the bidding through the back door. Cheung Kong Holdings offered 6 million yuan, which was considered the highest price among the three consortiums. The second place was New World Development Company, which offered 3 million yuan.

The land covers an area of ​​11.5 square feet. According to the bid of Cheung Kong Holdings, the average price per square foot is 5217.4 yuan, which is nearly five times cheaper than the land price of Exchange Square of more than 3 yuan.

No wonder the Hong Kong government wanted to take back this land. If it were in the market conditions in 81, it might have been worth HK$20 billion.

Siu On Real Estate Company Office

Luo Qihong was discussing things with the three giants again.

“The Hong Kong government made a wrong calculation this time. It wanted to stimulate the local cities, but ended up making the situation in the local cities even worse.” Chen Zhilong said with a happy smile.

The worse the current real estate market situation is, the more beneficial it is for Siu On Real Estate Company. It can buy a large number of high-quality companies and properties at low prices. When the market returns to normal, the market value of Siu On Real Estate Company will suddenly expand, and it is very likely to become one of the new five real estate tigers in Hong Kong.

Luo Qihong smiled and said, "The Hong Kong government is not stimulating the local market for the sake of the citizens, but to alleviate the Hong Kong government's fiscal deficit. If the calculation is wrong, it will not have a big impact on them, but it will be fatal to the real estate developers."

"I believe a new round of property and land selling will occur tomorrow, and prices will hit a new low. Both speculators and real estate developers will be shocked."

"Then can we slowly contact some peers and acquire high-quality properties at low prices?" Kang Wenyi asked.

Luo Qihong nodded and said, "Okay, the price of the industrial building is almost there. Let's start from here. Let the Finance Department allocate 5 million and aim to purchase 30 industrial buildings."

Cheng Jianshen reminded him, "It's not that we can't acquire 30 industrial buildings, but the quality will be lower. It's better to change it to 22 and try to acquire newly built industrial buildings. What do you think, boss?"

"Okay!" Luo Qihong was not one to ignore opinions.

"Are the nine industrial buildings of Jianian Real Estate Company among them?" Kang Wenyi asked.

"Yes! The company's funds cannot be invested entirely in industrial buildings. The key projects are still the acquisition of commercial buildings in Central, Wan Chai, Kowloon City and Causeway Bay." Luo Qihong still does not think that industrial buildings can make more money than commercial buildings.

"The situation of Jianian Real Estate Company is getting worse and worse. It's just Peng Guozhen who is trying his best to keep it going. However, Peng Guozhen has been hospitalized several times. His body can hardly bear such pressure. I don't think Peng Guozhen can hold on for much longer." Cheng Jianshen analyzed. He understood that if Peng Guozhen could make a breakthrough, it would be beneficial to Zhaoan Real Estate.

Luo Qihong pondered for a moment and said, "I remember that Jianian Real Estate Company has several commercial buildings in downtown Kowloon. Perhaps Peng Guozhen can sell them in a package. As for the reason, of course, this money can delay the liquidation of Jianian Real Estate."

The three of them thought about it for a moment and understood what the boss meant. The crisis of the bankruptcy of Jianian Real Estate convinced Peng Guozhen to sell his property assets at a low price. Otherwise, if they were taken away by the bank, the property prices would be even lower and the property would be hopeless.

The next day, Huaguang Real Estate Company held a board meeting
This market crash also had a great impact on Huaguang Real Estate Company. Although it was not on the verge of bankruptcy like Jianian Real Estate Company, its market value plummeted by 2% to 6 million yuan, its debt ratio increased significantly, and interest repayments began to become somewhat tight.

Of course, these problems were not caused by Zhao Shizeng alone, but by the market conditions, so the directors did not dare to blame anyone.

The directors of the board of directors were also busy with their own company affairs and had no time to pay attention to the affairs of Huaguang Real Estate Company. "Dear directors, everyone is very clear about the current situation of the local market and the stock market. The company's property rent can still cover the interest on the debt, but if it continues like this, there are still some concerns. If the tenants withdraw from the lease, the company will have to bear it alone, and may even face debt collection from the bank." Zhao Shizeng said with some worry.

"Doesn't the company still have tens of millions in cash flow? This should be enough to sustain it until the disaster is over." said the fat director.

Zhao Shizeng responded, "This can only deal with interest, but cannot deal with many debt problems. It still depends on the attitude of the bank and the quality of Hong Kong's financial environment. Many foreign banks have begun to reduce their business in Hong Kong and are also withdrawing some loans."

Properties are not valuable nowadays. Even if they are transferred by loan, some price difference has to be made up. This is a risky move for Huaguang Real Estate Company. Even if it does not lead to bankruptcy, it will at least cause some damage to its vitality.

"What does Mr. Zhao want to do?" Another director threw the question back to Zhao Shizeng.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Shizeng turned to look at Luo Qihong and asked, "Mr. Luo, do you have any other way to solve this problem? Even if it can alleviate it a little, it would be good."

"The current environment is extremely bad. There is no other way except to let you raise funds and issue shares." Luo Qihong said unscrupulously. He knew that the directors were already busy with their personal affairs, but he still wanted them to pay for Huaguang Real Estate Company.

The directors looked at Luo Qihong deeply, and the fat director retorted, "It's easy for us to talk, but what about the small shareholders? They may not respond. If the rights issue fails, the impact on Huaguang Real Estate will be even greater."

"Yes, what Mr. Zheng said makes sense. We have to consider the minority shareholders, and there are also considerable risks for Huaguang Real Estate."

"Just reject this proposal. It will not benefit anyone."

The directors all opposed Luo Qihong's bad idea, asking them to issue shares instead of kicking them out of the board of directors.

Luo Qihong didn't care. After all, this suggestion was just to provoke Zhao Shizeng. In fact, he didn't want to issue shares.

"Do you have any other suggestions?" Zhao Shizeng asked, looking around.

Hearing this, the conference room became quiet.

They don't have any ideas at all. If they did, they would have used them on their own company long ago. Why would they be so anxious now?

As a result, the meeting did not produce any results. It was just a gathering for everyone to chat.

However, Luo Qihong was pulled into the office by Zhao Shizeng again, as if he wanted to trick Luo Qihong into doing something.

Zhao Shizeng politely poured Luo Qihong a cup of tea and said with a smile, "I heard that Mr. Luo is buying properties recently. I wonder if he is interested in the commercial buildings in Causeway Bay and the luxury houses in the Mid-Levels?"

Luo Qihong's heart skipped a beat. It seemed that the Zhao Congyan family wanted to devote themselves to the shipping industry and did not want to leave behind too many property assets.

"As long as the price is right, I'm naturally interested." Luo Qihong said ambiguously.

Zhao Shizeng put down the teapot and said, "How about taking it over at the current market price?"

"This... is still a bit high. Property prices are plummeting now. It would be a bit disadvantageous to acquire it at this time." Luo Qihong said with a smile.

"I heard that Luo Sheng acquired the industrial building at market price. Why did he lower the price for the luxury houses and commercial buildings?" Zhao Shizeng looked as if to say, 'Don't think I'm easy to bully.'

Luo Qihong smiled and said, "Mr. Zhao is also an expert in the real estate industry. He should be very clear that the price of industrial buildings began to show signs at the end of the 80s and has been falling for nearly two years. The current selling price has bottomed out and there is basically no room for further decline. Naturally, we have to purchase it at the market price."

“As for the luxury homes in Mid-Levels and commercial buildings in Causeway Bay, their prices have just started to fall and there is still a lot of room for them to fall, so they cannot be settled according to market prices.”

Zhao Shizeng certainly understood the market conditions, he just wanted to take advantage of Luo Qihong so he pretended to be ignorant.

"Then what price does Luo Sheng want to buy it for?" Zhao Shizeng had no choice but to ask when he saw this.

"8% of the market price." Luo Qihong gestured with a faint smile on his face.

Zhao Shizeng drank his tea slowly and said, "Mr. Luo is being a little unkind. I don't think the prices of commercial buildings and luxury homes will drop by 50%."

Luo Qihong smiled and said, "Many of our peers were buying at the bottom on a large scale in the first half of the year. Mr. Zhao, in my opinion, some properties may not only fall by 5%, but may fall by 7%, 8%, or even 9%."

"Nowadays, the rich are all thinking about selling their assets and emigrating to foreign countries. Foreign companies that have not withdrawn are also taking a wait-and-see attitude. The Hong Kong government is also unable to rescue the market and even wants to make a profit by subsidizing the fiscal budget. How can Mr. Zhao not think that the property market will fall to the bottom?"

"." Zhao Shizeng's face turned grim. He knew that Luo Qihong was telling the truth, but he couldn't help but consider his family.

"About 95% of the market price. This is the price I saw."

In fact, the reason why Zhao Shizeng approached Luo Qihong was simply because there were no buyers in the market, or everyone wanted to buy at a super low price.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Zhao! You should find another buyer. I'll wait and see." Luo Qihong didn't want to be a sucker.

"Mr. Luo, last price. 9% of the market price." Zhao Shizeng remembered the decision made at the family meeting, gritted his teeth and sold it at a low price.

Who knew that Luo Qihong would still shake his head and say, "Actually, 8% of the market price is already too high. I gave it because of my friendship with Mr. Zhao. Otherwise, I would buy it at a maximum of 6% of the market price."

(End of this chapter)