Hong Kong 1980: The Savage Era

Chapter 320 321 [Can't Beat Him]

Wu Chanrui is the wife of Zhang Mingtian, the founder of Overseas Trust Bank, and Zhang Chengzhong is naturally Zhang Mingtian’s son.

Zhang Mingtian died in February 82. At that time, Overseas Trust Bank was at its peak, with a market value of billions of Hong Kong dollars, and was one of the top ten banks in Hong Kong.

However, Wu Chanrui and her son designed a scheme to force out Zhuang Qingquan, the vice chairman of the board of directors of Overseas Trust Bank, to leave. Then a series of companies closely related to Overseas Trust Bank, such as Dainai Financial, Hang Lung Bank, and Carmen Properties, went bankrupt or were taken over one after another, making the bank's difficulties quickly surface.

Although Overseas Trust Bank sold Chinese Bank to Lippo Group in 84 and sold other assets, it was unable to prevent the bank's difficulties from worsening, leading to the current irreversible situation.

The Overseas Trust Bank has been taken over by the Hong Kong government and is facing debt and asset restructuring. The procedures for selling the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China have also become extremely complicated, but this seems to have no effect on Guo Lingcan.

Guo Lingcan showed a bit of embarrassment on his face. He originally thought that Luo Qihong would not know, but now it seems that it is difficult to hide it from this local tyrant in Hong Kong.

"Luo Sheng, I should have informed you of this matter, but I was just thinking of giving it a try. I didn't expect that something like this would happen when we were almost done."

Luo Qihong was not satisfied with Guo Lingcan's explanation, so he said perfunctorily, "Forget it, let's talk about business, Mr. Guo."

"According to the information from the Financial Secretary, the liabilities of the Overseas Trust Bank have far exceeded its assets. The Hong Kong government will use 20 billion yuan of foreign exchange funds to rescue it."

"Mr. Guo is a banking expert and should know that 20 billion yuan is not enough to save Overseas Trust Bank. Moreover, during this turbulent time, I don't think the Hong Kong government will sell ICBC to avoid financial confusion."

Guo Lingcan said, "Luo Sheng and I have different opinions. The Hong Kong government has always had financial problems. Even if the fiscal revenue from selling land is not small, it is not enough. If we can help the Hong Kong government solve some of the funding problems of overseas trust banks, I think the Hong Kong government should be happy to sell."

"Then what price does Mr. Guo plan to make the acquisition?" Luo Qihong asked after thinking for a while.

"Now that Dah Sing Bank is a competitor, the price may have to go up a lot." Guo Lingcan looked embarrassed. "I plan to acquire it at a price of 4.3 million yuan."

Dah Sing Bank was founded in 47. It is a relatively young and smaller bank with only 14 branches in Hong Kong. Its major shareholder is the Wang Shouye family and it has not yet been listed.

ICBC has 23 branches, which is much larger than Dah Sing Bank. However, Dah Sing Bank is more conservative and its assets may be larger than those of ICBC.

"Mr. Guo, to be honest, the Hong Kong government might mind Hong Leong Investments and Overseas Trust discussing the sale of ICBC," Luo Qihong said bluntly.

Guo Lingcan lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then said, "What Luo Sheng said makes sense, but Dah Sing Bank's foundation is unstable. We may try to do this. I believe the Hong Kong government does not want to take over another Dah Sing Bank."

"It seems that Mr. Guo is determined to acquire ICBC. So how does Mr. Guo plan to deal with ICBC's listing status? Is he going to merge it with Daoheng Bank and list them together?" Luo Qihong didn't want to continue being a bad guy. Anyway, the Hong Leong Group was very large, so it would be easier for him to deal with the affairs of Hong Leong Investment Company.

"I plan to set up Daoheng Group and abolish the listing status of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China," said Guo Lingcan.

“Then will Hong Leong Investment Company become a subsidiary?” Luo Qihong was concerned about his shareholding.

"It's a direct name change. Hong Leong Investment will become Daoheng Group. However, Luo Sheng's shareholding will be reduced to around 15%, and he will still be the second largest shareholder." Guo Lingcan laughed.

"I suggest that ICBC be merged into Daoheng Bank. ICBC has good qualifications and is not as heavily indebted as its parent company. It is still a 'good deal'," said Luo Qihong.

"Luo Sheng's suggestion coincides with my idea." Guo Lingcan said.

"What about Hang Lung Bank? Mr. Guo doesn't plan to take over?" Luo Qihong asked.

"It will take some time for Hang Lung Bank to take over. It will be enough time for us to digest ICBC. Mr. Luo, don't worry." Guo Lingcan replied.

Luo Qihong did not think that the acquisition of ICBC would go smoothly. The negotiations might take several months or even a year, and the digestion process would take another year. It was very likely that he would not have enough time to acquire Hang Lung Bank.

In terms of scale, Hang Lung Bank is much larger than ICBC and plays a greater role in the Daoxing Group, perhaps twice as much as the latter.

If we lose Hang Lung Bank, we will undoubtedly be picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons, and become a laughing stock in the Hong Kong industry.

However, this has nothing to do with Luo Qihong. It is entirely the Guo brothers' own fault.

The two sides discussed for about 3 hours and then parted ways after dinner.

The next morning
Luo Qihong saw a headline in the newspaper that said 'Overseas Trust Bank Chairman Wu Chanrui and Executive Chairman Zhang Chengzhong fled Hong Kong with millions of dollars'. The content was that the police detained several senior executives of Overseas Trust Bank at the airport.

There were also news reports that the direct cause of the incident was the bad debt of several hundred million yuan in loans from an overseas trust between 81 and 82.

Over the years, senior management of overseas trusts has been frequently transferred, and nearly 40 billion yuan of funds have been lost or misappropriated. This reveals that the management of overseas trusts is very chaotic and also exposes the omissions and institutional loopholes of banking supervisory agencies.

When the stock market opened, the Hang Seng Index immediately plummeted by as much as 24 points, and the decline seemed to be unstoppable, which shows the great impact of the overseas trust incident.

"Phew! Fortunately we sold most of the stocks, otherwise we would have suffered." Bai Jinyan said angrily.

"The crash is coming, this is just the beginning." Luo Qihong said with a sigh.

"The plunge you mentioned was caused by the Overseas Trust Bank incident?" Bai Jinyan guessed that Luo Qihong had known about the Overseas Trust Bank incident for a long time but had never disclosed it to the public.

"The overseas trust bank incident was just the fuse. The real reason was that overseas investment was slow to return, but the stock market rose too fast. A gap formed between the two, and something must be filled." Luo Qihong explained briefly.

The stock market is just a reflection of the real economy. There will be water and bubbles in it. Once they are burst, the consequences will be obvious.

By 4:87 p.m., the Hang Seng Index was confirmed to have plunged points, a drop so large that it was jaw-dropping.

Many people think that this is just a temporary situation and that the market will recover in a few days and it is impossible for it to continue falling.

Luo Family Villa at night

Luo Yiyu was very happy after drinking milk. She was playing with the plastic bell in the stroller and was not interested in the toy in Luo Qihong's hand at all.

"Thanks to you, Ah Hong, otherwise we would have fallen in the stock market again." Chen Yusan said with some sense of surviving a disaster. Although they have Luo Qihong as their backer, they also want to rely on themselves and don't want to trouble others for everything.

"If you want to invest in stocks in the future, you should let Dean Securities Investment Company do it for you. I will also ask Sister Jinyan to keep an eye on it for you." Luo Qihong was still teasing Luo Yiyu.

"Will the market recover after this plunge in a few days?" Luo Qixing glanced at Luo Qihong who was having fun.

Luo Qihong was stunned for a moment and said, "I don't know. Let's wait for clear news from the stock market. I guess it will not last too short or too long." "People outside say that this is a short-term adjustment and it will recover in a week at most." Luo Qihong argued.

Luo Qihong said unhappily, "Before this, didn't Big Brother also say that a sharp drop was unlikely? What about now? The whole world is making money, so who is losing money?"

"."Luo Qixing remained silent. He didn't want to question Luo Qihong's judgment, but wanted to make money quickly.

The funds invested in the industrial building did not grow as fast as the stock market, so he became anxious.

“Investment requires your own judgment, not just following the crowd. If you can make a lot of money by following the crowd, will there still be poor people in the world?” Luo Qihong said earnestly.

Since this brother took over the management of Shengyun Printing Company, his abilities have improved a bit, but his arrogant temper has also become a lot worse. It seems that his temper has increased faster than his abilities.

Seeing her husband's embarrassed face, Chen Yusan changed the subject and asked, "Will the local market also fall?"

Luo Qihong followed Chen Yusan's pace and said, "It will fall a little, but the magnitude will not be large, because this plunge came quickly and went away quickly, and the local market did not have time to reflect too much."

"This is good. We can use our limited funds to buy more stocks." Chen Yusan saw opportunities in this crisis.

Buy at the bottom after making a profit, this is obviously the advantage of making the difference.

"Or should we buy small and medium-sized stocks?" Luo Qixing couldn't help but ask excitedly. This was an opportunity to make a lot of money.

Luo Qihong smiled and said, "Small and medium-sized stocks have the biggest drop, and will rebound the most in the future, so the profits will naturally be the best. Of course, you should buy small and medium-sized stocks."

"I'm going to introduce you to a stock called Aigo. When this stock drops to 7 cents, you can buy it. It won't be a problem for it to double in value."

"Really? I forgot, Ah Hong, you were originally a shareholder of Aimego Company. Do you have inside information?" Chen Yusan has been investing in stocks for so long, and her profit rate has been around 20%. Now she can double it, so of course she is excited.

"It's not inside information, but I will be a trader and can help you earn more." Luo Qihong said with a smile.

This isn't insider trading; it's what was expected to happen.

"Will it rise to the original price of 2 yuan per share?" Chen Yusan is very greedy and wants to make twice the profit.

"Just wait for some time, it should be possible." Luo Qihong said.

Soon, Lin Ya came over, picked up Luo Yiyu, and said, "The whole of Hong Kong is full of people speculating in stocks. Even the old ladies selling vegetables are speculating. They are all crazy. You should be careful in what you do and don't get trapped."

"Don't worry, with Hong here, we basically won't suffer any loss." Chen Yusan took the opportunity to flatter him.

With Lin Ya around, the atmosphere became much more harmonious.

Mid April

The Hang Seng Index is still falling, but the decline is not that large. This is because large-cap stocks and blue-chip stocks are supporting it, while small and medium-sized stocks are falling sharply. For example, the share price of Aigo has fallen from 2.2 yuan to 1.4 yuan, a drop of more than 36%; the decline of Siu On Properties is 21%, which is slightly better than that of Aigo.

The stock investors were naturally wailing, and those who bought large-cap and blue-chip stocks were also praying that the stocks would hold up and not fall. All of a sudden, the sales of Yuanbao candles and incense in Hong Kong soared, allowing the bosses of this industry to make a lot of money.

Inside the Liu Family Villa

Liu Luanxiong hung up the phone with a smile on his face, "We are going to make a fortune this time, and Liang Yingwei is doomed. I heard that the punk is desperately selling off his shares in Aigo, and now his holdings have been reduced to 20%. The situation is very good for us."

"The current share price of Aigo is 1.3 yuan. We are currently making 7 cents per share, and the profit is close to 1 million. Should we consider buying it?" Bao Yongqin said with some concern.

Liu Luanxiong shook his head and said, "It's not the right time yet. The share price of Aigo is expected to drop to 7 cents per share. By then, we can make 2 million yuan."

"Well, what should we do with Luo Sheng?" Bao Yongqin still wanted to lean against a big tree to enjoy the shade.

Liu Luanxiong's expression changed slightly, and he said, "Luo Sheng didn't say how he would do it. I think he should buy back those stocks from Li & Fung Trading Company. After all, Li & Fung Trading Company supports Liang Yingwei."

"I think you should communicate with Luo Sheng to avoid us meeting in the stock market." Bao Yongqin said.

"Well, when the stock price is about the same, I will look for Luo Sheng." Liu Luanxiong nodded. This matter may seem insignificant, but it is actually quite crucial.

Evergo Corporate Office
Liang Yingwei was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He had just issued new shares some time ago to strengthen his control over Aigo. Now he had to sell the shares to recover funds and repay debts. He lost a lot of money in this round.

It’s really unlucky!

"What should I do? If Liu Luanxiong and his wife come back, I can't stop them." Liang Yingwei shouted in his heart, then turned to look at Feng Guojing and Feng Guolun on the side, and said, "Mr. Feng, your Li & Fung Trading Company has always had good business. Can you buy back some Aigo shares for me from the market?"

Feng Guojing frowned in vain. The sales volume of Aimego's products had been declining, and the stock was worthless now. He was about to lose a lot of money, but now he was asked to continue buying. It was a bit shameless.

"Mr. Liang, the situation of Li & Fung Trading Company is not very good. I am afraid it will be difficult to buy more shares of Aigo. Moreover, we want to sell some shares to make the company's situation better."

Hearing this, Liang Yingwei became excited, "Mr. Feng, please hold on. This crisis will soon be over. If we reduce our holdings now, if Liu Luanxiong and Luo Qihong come back, all our efforts will be wasted."

Feng Guojing and Feng Guolun were clear about what was going on. Lovely Mega Company belonged to Liang Yingwei, and they had entered the business to make money. Now that they were suffering losses, the relationship between them was naturally not so solid.

"Okay, we will reduce our holdings for some time, at most one month. If there is no improvement, there is nothing we can do," said Feng Guojing.

After leaving Aigo, Feng Guolun said to Feng Guojing, "Brother, we don't know how low Aigo's stock price will drop in a month. Aren't we going to bear the loss for Liang Yingwei?"

"Let's wait and see. Selling now will also result in losses. Maybe things will get better in a few days." Feng Guojing was not very confident and began to waver in his promise to Liang Yingwei.

"We can contact Luo Qihong first. Liang Yingwei can't be Luo Qihong's opponent." Feng Guolun suggested.

Feng Guojing thought about it again and again, then nodded and said, "Okay, let's test Luo Qihong's attitude."

"Well, then I'll ask Luo Qihong out for a chat." Feng Guolun said.

(End of this chapter)