The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, another year has passed (1963).

In early January, members of Lin Zhichao's family returned to Hong Kong from the United States one after another, ending their vacation.

Yangtze River Industrial Group, conference room.

Lin Zhichao listened to the annual work reports of the general managers of each subsidiary, and there was no abnormal expression on his face, so that his subordinates could not see joy or sorrow.

The performance of the Yangtze River Industries Group last year (1962) was not good.

First of all, it is Yangtze Plastics and Yangtze Wigs. The performance of these two subsidiaries has dropped significantly, with profits of 20 million Hong Kong dollars and 3.5 million Hong Kong dollars respectively. Compared with the profits of the previous year, the profits were reduced by 5 million and 1 million respectively, a decrease of 20%.

Secondly, the profit of Yangtze Toy Factory has not increased and remains at HK$30 million. The reason is that after the listing of Audrey Toy Company, the profit margin of Yangtze Toy Factory's OEM dropped sharply, and Barbie dolls experienced slight growth. It seems to have reached a bottleneck.

Finally, the Yangtze River Zipper Factory also experienced a profit bottleneck, and even slightly reduced it, ending this year with only 40 million Hong Kong dollars.

In other aspects, the profit of the steel factory is only 12 million Hong Kong dollars, and the profit of Midea Electric is only 1 million Hong Kong dollars.

The Yangtze River Industries Group's total profit last year was only 106.5 million Hong Kong dollars, which was about 15 million less than the previous year.

"Well, it's all within my expectation. I said it a few years ago - plastic flowers and wigs have a certain timeliness. Within two or three years, there will be no money to be made from these two products, you two. The general manager should be prepared for a 'smooth landing' and adopt the agency model step by step."

Tao Derong and Chen Linyuan immediately replied in unison: "Yes, boss!"

In the conference room, everyone admired Lin Zhichao's open-mindedness and confidence. If he were a boss, without these two golden eggs, he might not even be able to sleep well. On the contrary, his own boss kept talking about these two golden eggs every year. I'm afraid the industry is about to die.

The more you say this, the better Tao Derong and Chen Linyuan are doing. Apart from the impact of the general environment, they can't help it. Both of them can be said to be determined to develop their enterprises.

Of course, their salary is also linked to their performance. The annual salary of the general managers of several early subsidiaries is already more than 200,000 Hong Kong dollars. If he doesn’t work hard, it’s Lin Zhichao’s fault for not replacing talents. More importantly, without them, the boss can be as stable as the group, and the group’s talents are waiting in line for promotion!

"I am very clear about the long-term goals of the Yangtze River Industrial Group. In short, it will not really go downhill. Zippers, toys, electrical appliances, and steel are all long-term industries, especially zippers and toys, which will hardly become outdated; in terms of electrical appliances, first By accumulating experience and technology in video receivers and fans, we will definitely be able to break through to higher-level products in the future, such as TV parts, television sets, etc. Needless to say, steel has always been in great demand."

"In recent years, we have invested heavily in scientific research and technology. Zipper technology has always kept pace with the world's giants, and our reputation and reputation are very good. Facts have proved that as long as we continue to invest in research and development, there will always be returns."

"So, everyone must take a long-term view and do a good job in the current affairs."

Everyone's spirits were shaken and they all responded.

Those who work part-time are most afraid of working with an incompetent boss, who can neither afford salary increase nor promotion channels.

However, the development of the Yangtze River Industry Group has been advancing by leaps and bounds.

Of course, we are indeed encountering growth bottlenecks, but as long as there are a few stable industries, there is no need to worry about companies encountering risks; what's more, Lin Zhichao is also planning for subsequent industrial development, but the time has not yet come.

The funds of Yangtze River Industry are undoubtedly very abundant. The funds for overseas stock speculation have reached over 90 million US dollars, and the 80 million US dollars for bargain hunting have increased by 15%, which can be said to be a huge profit. In addition, the current accounts of Yangtze River Industry Group , there is still 170 million Hong Kong dollars lying around.

Even if Lin Zhichao intends to allocate funds from overseas stocks to his investment companies, the funds accumulated by Yangtze River Industries can still ensure subsequent development.

Cheung Wo Plastic Factory.

Li Jiacheng was also calculating his harvest for the year, and his face changed when he finally got the answer. Last year's profit was as high as HK$1.5 million; and this was HK$500,000 in rental profits including the industrial building.

This made Cheung Hutch Plastic Factory's glory, which only lasted for two years, begin to plummet. The profit from more than 1.8 million Hong Kong dollars the year before last plummeted to 1.5 million Hong Kong dollars today.

He suddenly became a little bitter, although he also learned that plastic flowers in Europe and the United States are no longer so popular, and there are thousands of plastic flower factories in Hong Kong, and the competition is particularly fierce.

However, he didn't expect that the glory would be so short-lived, why would he marry his cousin!

At the beginning of 1961, he paid off the debt for the construction of the industrial building; now, although he has earned 3.3 million in two years, he has spent another 700,000 on investing in plastic flower equipment, and the remaining 2.6 million is not owned by him alone. , he only holds a little over 60% of the shares.

In other words, he could only afford 1.5 million Hong Kong dollars.

Now their family still lives in a thousand-foot house, which is a very good environment for ordinary people; but the daughter of the Zhuang family he wants to marry is a daughter of a well-known family with a net worth of tens of millions. .

This little asset is obviously not enough!

Moreover, the Li family originally wanted to invest in an industrial building, but now they have no chance, because the industrial land has also risen to 130 Hong Kong dollars per square foot, and just one piece of land costs 3 million; the construction fee has also increased a lot, and the total After investing, almost five million Hong Kong dollars will be needed.

This made Li Jiacheng’s idea come to nothing!

After a while, Li Shulin and Li Yunsong walked in.

In fact, Li Jiacheng's real nobleman was not his uncle Zhuang Jing'an, but his uncle Li Shulin and cousin Li Yunsong. Because he raised HK$50,000 in entrepreneurial capital that year, his uncle became a shareholder, accounting for about 25%, becoming the biggest supporter among all relatives.

"Jia Cheng, wasn't the situation very good last year?" Li Shulin said seriously.

Li Ka-shing nodded and said: "The profit from plastic flowers can reach HK$1 million, a drop of about 25%; the rent has increased a bit, reaching HK$500,000."

One floor of the CK Hutchison Industrial Building is leased to itself, while the remaining 11 floors are leased to other factories. Even so, the profit reached HK$500,000, which can be described as an excellent investment.

Li Shulin said: "What is this? Competition in Hong Kong is too fierce, but profits will not drop so fast!"

Li Jiacheng said: "It is because the fashion trend in Europe and the United States has weakened that many people have begun to use cloth curtains and abandoned plastic flower products. According to this trend, plastic flowers may not have many years of glory, and they will no longer make money in three to five years at the latest. "He became determined.

He can achieve an annual profit of millions by selling his products to Europe and the United States, and he also goes abroad for inspections once or twice a year.

Li Shulin said: "What should we do?"

Li Jiacheng said: "Uncle, don't worry. We still have a few years to make money. We will slowly find ways to transform. Plastic products are ever-changing. Our equipment can not only produce plastic flowers, but also plastic toys, such as doll heads. , it’s not like we have no business. What’s more, we also invested in an industrial building, which is already much better than other plastic factories.”

Li Shulin nodded immediately and said, "Thanks to you for overcoming everyone's opinions and investing in this industrial building, we still listened!"

Li Jiacheng was immediately moved. His uncle supported him as always. Not only did he let his cousin help him manage the factory, but he also never suggested splitting up the family.

But just as he was moved, Li Shulin's next words stunned him.

"Jia Cheng, you are now quite old and it's time to consider getting married to Miss Zhuang. Although your career is not as good as the banker's, at least you have achieved an annual income of nearly one million. That's pretty good!"

Li Jiacheng is almost 35 years old this year, and Miss Zhuang is almost 31 years old, a typical late marriage. All this is caused not only by the status gap between the two families, but also by Li Jiacheng's self-esteem.

He wanted to marry his cousin in a glamorous manner, but now he is reluctant to buy a garden house worth hundreds of thousands. However, for the sake of face, he decided to buy a garden house on the hillside.

Thinking that getting married would cost half of his savings, he was a little reluctant, but he had no choice. Originally, he was interested in Deep Water Bay, but the housing prices there have been skyrocketed, and it's impossible to buy it without even 1 million.

"Second uncle is right. I will buy a house recently and propose marriage to my uncle!" Li Jiacheng gritted his teeth and said.

In fact, he and his cousin had already performed the courtesy of Zhou Gong. After all, they were young and frivolous, so there was no reason why they should not touch women for thirty-five years. Mainly because of his uncle's opinion of him, the wedding of the two has not been officially decided.

Li Shulin took the opportunity to say: "So, the funds of CK Hutchison Plastics should also be distributed to various shareholders. We have only received salaries and no dividends for so many years because we think you can lead us to become bigger and bigger. But now that the industry If things go downhill, it’s time to pay dividends.”

Li Jiacheng suddenly had mixed feelings. Once the dividend was paid, it meant that his hope of further progress in his career was much smaller; however, dividends were inevitable, and he also had to consider getting married.

"Okay, for the funds in the account, we will distribute dividends according to the shares as soon as possible, and only reserve a small amount of funds in the account for emergencies."

"That's right! Then go ahead and call everyone together to discuss the dividends later."

"Second uncle, walk slowly"

After his second uncle and cousin left, Li Jiacheng made plans and spent half of his wealth on getting married, but he could only barely satisfy his uncle. The remaining 7.8 million Hong Kong dollars cannot be invested in anything at all.

Real estate is more like a dream!

Li Jiacheng really wants to do real estate, but what he wants is to invest in industrial plants and collect stable rents. Now, he only has enough funds to buy ten residential units, and that's it.

Too far!

Two days passed.

Li Jiacheng and his mother came to his uncle's house to propose marriage.

After hearing the intention, Zhuang Jing'an said in a somewhat unkind tone: "When I think of proposing marriage at this time, I am afraid that I know that my career has stalled and I will not be able to give this old man my prestige!"

In fact, he deliberately motivated this nephew to make him work hard and do something in his career; otherwise, how could he not know why his wife used the funds to lend it to his nephew.

By 1960, his nephew had already made him reluctantly satisfied. If he proposed marriage at that time, he would reluctantly agree. Unexpectedly, my nephew has been suffering for another two or three years and only proposed marriage today.

How could he not be worried when a child came so close? Later, he also understood that his nephew was ambitious and wanted to marry his daughter in front of him.

So, he just said that on purpose!

Li Jiacheng blushed, as if his thoughts had been revealed.

Zhuang Yueming quickly pushed his father, meaning, at least you should give Ah Cheng some face!

"I don't dare to show off in front of my uncle! But my uncle was right just now. The plastic industry has gone into decline. I came to propose marriage at this time because my cousin and I are too old and can't delay it any longer. So I I sincerely ask my uncle to agree, I can guarantee that I will always be loyal to my cousin, loyal to my family, and continue to work hard!" Li Jiacheng said with courage.

Zhuang Jing'an didn't agree immediately and deliberately kept silent. He cooled off his nephew for a while. It wasn't until his wife pushed him that he said:

"What's going on with that plastic flower?"

"Europe and the United States are no longer so popular, and I don't expect to make any money in three to five years, but I have already thought about it. I can produce toys and OEM dolls for Europe and the United States and still make a stable profit!"

Seeing this, Zhuang Jing'an also knew that doing business was not easy, so he found a place under the stairs and said, "You are indeed very discerning when you invest in that factory building. The appreciation in value is estimated to have nearly doubled. As for opening a factory, after all the hardships, it is finally possible." A small achievement. Well, as you are now, you can still support a family, so I agree to your marriage. Remember, after you get married, you must continue to work hard to make money!"

Li Jiacheng was overjoyed and said quickly: "Thank you, uncle!"

The thing was finally successful, and then everyone discussed the specific steps - buying a house, choosing a time, etc.!

At this time, Li Jiacheng also thought that he was lucky to invest in an industrial building, otherwise he would be even worse in the eyes of his uncle. As for that industrial building, he knew that it was thanks to Lin Zhichao's support back then.

At the auction that year, Lin Zhichao looked at him several times and gave up on bidding several times. After that, he directly provided some care for the design and construction.

Unless others were merciful, he might not have the chance to appreciate his wealth at all. What's more, plastic flowers were invented by others. This was something that changed his destiny. Otherwise, he might not have become a millionaire even after so many years.

For this wedding, the invitation must be presented, whether he comes or not.

In the office of Cheung Kong Holdings, Lin Zhichao looked through last year's financial statements. The overall performance was very good.

A total of 1,200 residential units were sold, with a profit of HK$39 million. The average profit per residential unit was as high as more than HK$30,000. The amount of land funds withdrawn was nearly HK$15 million, mainly from the land in Telford Gardens. In fact, there are still 2,200 homes in Telford Gardens that are not for sale.

In terms of commercial real estate, the total profit reached 30 million Hong Kong dollars, a surge of about 25%.

The full-year profit reached HK$76 million, including income from Poly Construction, doll noodles, etc., but excluding Anderson Daya Enterprises.

Cheung Kong Holdings has a total of HK$128 million in liquidity in its account.

Very nice look!

If it hadn't cost more than 33 million to purchase one piece of commercial land, and more than 15 million to purchase three pieces of land, the total cost would be 39 million; otherwise, Yangtze River Industrial's capital flow would be even greater.

"Boss, the construction of the site at Nos. 141-143 Des Voeux Road Central can start in March!" Huang Changhong walked in and reported.

This is the sixth building of the Lin family in Central, and the fifth Central Building of Cheung Kong Industrial. It is named "International Building". It is a 32-storey building. A tall building's reputation.

In fact, since the construction of high-rise buildings was allowed in 1955, the tallest building in Hong Kong has been replaced by Lin Zhichao.

"Well, just pick a good day! By the way, how is the leasing situation of Midea Building?" Lin Zhichao asked with concern.

The Midea Building has a total area of ​​320,000 square feet. It started leasing in September last year and opened in March this year.

Huang Changhong immediately said: "The leasing rate is 90%. Even the office buildings are still renting. It's not a big problem. It should be above 95%."

At this time, overlooking Central Hong Kong from Victoria Peak, there are already many high-rise buildings, so the office buildings in Central are no longer in short supply, and are relatively abundant; of course, the office buildings in Central, such as Cheung Kong Industrial, are all first-class Grade A office buildings, which are very popular in the market .

Whether it is a foreign company or a local company, being able to work in Central is regarded as a guarantee of the company's credibility. This has always been the case.

Lin Zhichao nodded, and continued: "Now the company has fewer projects, but we can't relax. Horizontal development is also very important. Poly Construction, Anderson Daya, Changjiang Finance, etc. all need energy management. You, the deputy general manager, need a lot of time. Help me manage the company."

Huang Changhong immediately sat up straight and said, "Don't worry, boss, I will do my best to keep the entire group's affairs in check."

Development of real estate, retail real estate, commercial real estate, doll noodles, Poly Construction, Anderson Daya, Changjiang Finance, real estate agency, property management. Cheung Kong has more than 30 subsidiaries, large and small.

It is impossible for Lin Zhichao to manage so many companies, so he can only rely on these management teams. He is more of a leader.

Huang Changhong is the 'prime minister', Lin Zhichao's assistant, or chief steward, etc. In short, he has a lot of power.

Although it is said that there are "three carriages" and "four carriages", the other management teams are still half a management level below them. It can only be said that they are all directly responsible to Lin Zhichao.

If it goes public, the organizational structure will naturally change!

Afterwards, Huang Changhong said: "Actually, although we have few real estate projects, in fact, one large real estate project surpasses more than ten others. The side of Fude Garden is also enough for Poly Construction to get it in 1964. Another international building will be started soon. , so everyone’s work is arranged very reasonably.”

Lin Zhichao nodded and said: "It is not wrong to maintain this rhythm. Although we have funds, it is not a risk to develop more; but the development of real estate is a long-term business, and there is no need to eat too much at one go. Of course, the plot ratio will be reduced by 20% , but if the unit price is higher in the future, wouldn’t you make more money!”

Huang Changhong said: "It is true that everyone is rushing to start construction and develop before 1966. I am afraid that the housing supply may exceed demand again and cause fluctuations."

When he works with the boss, he can naturally find some signs. For example, the boss rarely buys land at official land auctions. He undoubtedly dislikes the high price.

"Who knows! Anyway, it's not a good thing. Originally, the market only needs 15,000 a year, but if it exceeds 20,000 or even 30,000 a year, it will be strange if nothing happens."

"That makes sense!"

After chatting for a while, Huang Changhong left. He felt that as soon as he chatted with his boss, he felt that everything was under control.

Cheung Kong has sufficient land reserves, huge assets and sufficient cash flow. As long as there are no risks in Hong Kong, Cheung Kong will have no risks. (End of chapter)