Hong Kong 1980: The Savage Era

Chapter 470 472 [Hot Real Estate]

By mid-April.

The real estate industry began to regain the popularity it had in 86, many speculators took office, and society entered a period of craziness.

Luo Qihong stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, staring at the long queue below him, which had already filled the sidewalk.

Even after waiting in line for several hours, those speculators remained excited and were eager to get the piece of paper to buy a house.

"Boss, we have posted the notice three times and sent people to explain to the citizens several times, but they still stay and are unwilling to leave. It seems that they will not leave until they get the qualification certificate." said Chen Zhilong who was standing aside.

Luo Qihong nodded and said, "Call the police. There must be no accidents in front of the group, otherwise the share prices of the subsidiaries will be in trouble."

"Okay, I'll make the call right away." Chen Zhilong left the office immediately.

The long queue made Luo Qihong involuntarily think of the stampede incidents in 85 and 86. It had nothing to do with that company, but was caused by the citizens themselves. Unfortunately, the Hong Kong government did not care about it, so the company had to vent its anger, and it became a typical example.

Today's real estate companies are all worried about this, because the composition of the queues is too complicated. There are gangsters, speculators, ordinary citizens, and hired people. These people are all eyeing the profits from the houses and don't care at all about whether they will get hurt or not.

You can earn 5 yuan when you first buy a house, and 8 yuan after waiting for a month.
You should know that the current price of large private housing estates is HK$3300 per square foot. At the end of March, it was HK$3 per square foot, an increase of HK$2400 per square foot in just half a month.

The profits that can be obtained are scary enough. Even Luo Qihong, who has many years of real estate experience, has to sigh: the property market has exploded.

Ligang City, jointly launched by Zhaoan Real Estate Company and Baoli Technology, is one of the best choices for speculators. It is not a big problem to make a profit of half an ordinary house by reselling it.

The gangsters who had been invincible before used the same method to intimidate the citizens in the queue in order to gain more qualifications, but they were beaten to a pulp by the citizens who jumped up, leaving them with bruises and swollen faces. It can be seen that the profits involved are enough to drive anyone crazy.

Soon, a large number of police officers appeared at the Dongchang Building and began to disperse the crowd, allowing the citizens in the queue to leave. Only then did the employees of the Zhaoan Group breathe a sigh of relief.

As veterans in the real estate industry, they all knew that once a major incident occurred, they might not be spared. Although the group would compensate them, they were unwilling to risk their lives.

Of course, Luo Qihong does not want this kind of thing to happen. Compensation for losses is secondary. What is important is the impact on the group's reputation.

The explosion of the property market was inevitable. Luo Qihong vaguely remembered that in the 90s, the Hong Kong government and real estate developers had a big fight, which was finally ended with the mediation of the banks.

Luo Qihong no longer remembers the exact year.

However, this is not just his business, but the business of all real estate developers.

Kowloon Airlines’ request was ultimately not accepted by the Swire Group, perhaps because it was considered that this was the Swire Group’s most core industry and no one else was allowed to interfere.

Currently, Cathay Pacific Airways has two major shareholders, one is Swire Group and the other is HSBC. Swire Group holds more than 70% of the shares and is in an absolute controlling position.

As Cao Guangbiao complained to the Hong Kong government, Cathay Pacific Airways has monopolized Hong Kong's aviation industry and needs to be rectified immediately. Kowloon Airlines needs to compete with it so that Hong Kong's aviation industry can develop healthily.

Unfortunately, the Hong Kong government favored British Jews and completely ignored Cao Guangbiao's appeal. Luo Qihong was not surprised by the response of the Swire Group. It was very difficult to get a hand in Cathay Pacific Airways, but his plan had just begun, and the Swire Group would have to suffer for several more years.

He will complete this plan only after 97, when China Express Airlines officially enters Hong Kong.

In fact, the strength of the Swire Group is much weaker than that of its predecessor. The Tak Hop Plaza (Taikoo Plaza) in Admiralty alone is worth hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars, which can bring the company more than 10 billion Hong Kong dollars in rental income. In addition, the trading company under the Swire Group was acquired by Luo Qihong.
The back and forth of these businesses weakened the Swire Group a lot. As a result, the Swire family paid more attention to Cathay Pacific Airways and a series of aviation derivative companies.

The boardroom of the Hong Kong Electric Company.

As one of Hong Kong's blue chip stocks, the Electric Light Company has many directors, as many as 32, and the power relations are complicated. However, Chairman Li Zhaoji is no pushover. After years of operation, he has taken control of the entire company.

But the external threats could not be eliminated. After all, Li Zhaoji was still not as good as Li Jiacheng in the internationalization of the company. The China Light and Power Group alone made him overwhelmed.

"All directors are aware of the company's situation. Industrial electricity consumption in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon has been declining, and revenue has continued to decrease. In recent years, the profits from the development of old power plant land have compensated for this part of the loss, so the company's revenue has shown an increase."

"But the company's land is about to be developed, and that part of the profit is about to end. Does anyone have any suggestions to improve the company's profits?"

Li Zhaoji looked around and spoke very seriously. Although he has always been a taciturn person, his majesty seemed even greater at this moment.

The directors looked at each other, and no one wanted to respond in advance. Perhaps there were no good suggestions.

The Electric Light Company was a monopoly company and its profits were very stable. Electricity consumption in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon city had already reached its peak, but the market in the New Territories was firmly controlled by the China Light and Power Group, making it difficult to expand in the Hong Kong region.

Unless China Power Group can be acquired.

Unfortunately, the Kadoorie family attaches great importance to the China Power Group. Even when Luo Qihong launched a comprehensive acquisition of the Grand Hotel Group, the Kadoorie family did not relax its investment in the China Power Group, let alone intervene in the China Power Group.

Seeing that the directors were silent, Li Zhaoji had no choice but to look at Luo Qihong. "Where's Mr. Luo? Don't you have any suggestions?"

Luo Qihong smiled and said, "Mr. Li, you know that I am very bold in doing business. I don't care about the immediate benefits. The suggestions I give may not be in line with the company's interests."

Li Zhaoji said, "Tell us about it, what if everyone thinks it's feasible?"

"Well, since Mr. Li has said so, let me tell you my suggestions." Luo Qihong smiled faintly, "Hong Kong is too small. If we want to have a path to development, we can only transfer capital abroad. The mainland and Southeast Asia are both good places."

"The company's production capacity is already in excess, and cities such as Pengcheng and Yangcheng in the mainland are short of electricity. We can transmit electricity to them. We can also build power stations with the mainland government and then acquire energy companies in Australia and Southeast Asia."

Hearing this, the directors all lowered their heads. They had naturally thought of this suggestion, but the company would not have the current dividend amount for at least five years, and it might even be extended to ten years later.

They invested in the electric light company just for the dividends and could not wait that long. To put it bluntly, they only cared about the immediate benefits. After all, the electric light company did not belong to them but to Li Zhaoji's family.

In fact, Li Zhaoji also wanted Luo Qihong to help him so that he could proceed more easily.

(End of this chapter)