Mid May.
Hongkong.
A groundbreaking ceremony is being held at the site of No. 10 Ice House Street in Central.
The building already has its own name, the 'Crocodile Shirt Building'. The reason for this name is simple. One is that it will become the headquarters of Crocodile Shirts, and the other is to establish a brand and reputation for Crocodile Shirts.
Anyway, for Lin Zhichao, there will be building orders in the future, and there will also be a 'UNIQLO Building'.
At present, crocodile shirts have become synonymous with Hong Kong clothing and the first choice for mid-to-high-end people. Crocodile shirts have a total of five stores in Hong Kong and one in Sing Tao. The annual profit is about 1.2 million Hong Kong dollars, which is considered a very profitable enterprise.
"Lin Sheng, congratulations!"
"Thank you, please come this way!"
At the groundbreaking ceremony, a red carpet was laid out and a simple red wine banquet was held. The guests were all Lin Zhichao’s friends and business partners.
The Crocodile Shirt Building is 16 stories high, with a floor area of 6,800 square feet per floor and a ground floor. The construction period is 18 months (including decoration) and is expected to be put into use in early 1959. The building innovatively developed the lower three floors and ground floor into a shopping mall model. Once completed, it will become a shopping mecca in the Central District.
"Lin Sheng, once your building is completed, it will probably be the tallest building in Hong Kong!" Liao Baoshan said with a smile.
Currently, the tallest residential building in Hong Kong is 18 storeys, while the tallest building is the 17-storey Toad Palace Building (Causeway Bay). Because residential buildings stipulate that the minimum height of each floor is 3.2 meters, developers build according to this height; while office buildings are different, each floor must be at least 3.5 meters high.
The first floor of the Crocodile Shirt Building is 3.8 meters high, so it is taller than other buildings.
However, Lin Zhichao responded: "This is not true. Xu Sheng's China State Construction Engineering Corporation also built a Central building, which is a little taller than my building."
Although it is a little taller, the title of the tallest building in Hong Kong will probably remain with the Toad Palace Building until a significantly taller building appears.
Liao Baoshan said with envy: "The headquarters building is the guarantee of a company's reputation. A clothing brand owned by Lin Sheng has a headquarters building. It is really enviable."
He is also eager to give Liao Chong Hing Bank a headquarters building, but it is more profitable to invest the funds in residential buildings, so he can't think about it for the time being.
People around them also agree with this view. If a bank has a headquarters building, customers can feel more at ease. Other companies have also adapted to this phenomenon.
Now that Lin Zhichao has built the headquarters building of Crocodile Shirt, this shows that others will build better Yangtze River Tower and Global Tower.
This strength is far beyond what everyone can compare with!
Next, the groundbreaking ceremony officially began, with sacrifices, filling of soil, lion and dragon dances and other processes held one by one.
Finally, there was a simple reception, which was held in the open air. Everyone held a glass of red wine and communicated with each other. It can also be regarded as an industry exchange in the real estate industry.
During the exchange, someone mentioned that the house could not be sold recently, but no one picked up the topic at all, which immediately embarrassed the person who raised the topic.
It turns out that everyone already knew about this problem, but obviously they were planning to pretend not to know. Now that a real estate project is launched and only one-tenth of it cannot be sold in half a month, it is already in such a bad situation.
However, the calculation in the minds of these real estate developers is that the situation may only be temporary and will get better after a while.
So even in such an obvious situation, there are still real estate developers who are not afraid of death to acquire land.
After drinking a glass of wine, everyone left one after another.
Lin Zhichao also felt very comfortable when he saw the machines and equipment entering the venue. The construction cost of the Crocodile Shirt Building is about HK$6.5 million, and it uses first-class building materials. Therefore, although the floor area is small, it is still expensive.
For Lin Zhichao, these buildings will not be rebuilt in seventy or eighty years. They must use the best building materials and have extremely high density of steel bars.
In fact, if there is no opportunity to merge buildings or increase the "plot ratio", almost no buildings in Hong Kong will be demolished and rebuilt. This shows that the quality is still very good.
Back at Cheung Kong Holdings, Lin Zhichao happened to participate in the design meeting of the 'Miramar Hotel' project.
The meeting was attended by a well-known architect, as well as the design department and senior management of Cheung Kong Holdings.
In this design project team, Lin Zhichao is the 'chief designer'. He has a high theoretical knowledge of architectural design based on the shopping malls of later generations and the background of this era.
Next is the architects, who can also contribute a lot of design ideas, plus professional knowledge such as architectural structures.
Finally, there is the design department of Cheung Kong Holdings. After all, they have only participated in the design of residential buildings. This is also an opportunity to learn.
“The main gate of the property market is designed with a semicircular-like building, which can not only increase the floor area, but also give people a sense of grandeur. It can also display advertising signs, so that customers can’t help but walk into Miramar shopping at a glance. Center." Lin Zhichao expressed his opinion again on the details.
At this time, the overall structure of the Miramar Hotel (including the shopping mall) has been completed, and it is very perfect.
British designer Joe John said: "If you add such a building, you need to add force-bearing pillars to block the main entrance. The advantage is that you can see the atmosphere from a distance, but the disadvantage is that it will have some impact when you walk in."
While he was talking, Lin Zhichao had quickly sketched out this part by hand.
He handed it to everyone and said, "It seems acceptable!"
Everyone immediately circulated it one by one, and soon the plan was tentatively determined. After the drawings were released, it was finally finalized.
Next, Lin Zhichao discussed with everyone the design of a children's playground on the fifth floor of the shopping mall. This design is avant-garde, but definitely popular.
Customers can leave their children at the playground and go shopping with peace of mind. At the same time, with this entertainment venue, many parents will also come to Miramar Shopping Center.
Of course, the fourth and fifth floors of the shopping mall are actually much smaller than the shopping malls on the first, second and third floors. It is a rectangular building because the hotel is also built on it.
In the end, Lin Zhichao was very satisfied with the meeting and made great progress. It is expected that the entire design plan will be officially released in three months.
The entire building complex is owned by Miramar Hotel Company, which means that Miramar Shopping Center is a subsidiary property and is not separate. Lin Zhichao's purpose in doing this was that Miramar Hotel would be listed for financing in the future (in 1972), and the raised money would be used to purchase surrounding land and invest in real estate and hotels.
Anyway, privatization was possible in the 1980s. Using investors' money to develop the company, and then taking advantage of the plummeting stock market to privatize it, is a complete 'empty wolf'. Not only can you get the maximum benefits, but you can also gain praise from investors.
The reason is simple. When the stock plummets, as long as you come up with a 35% premium, they will be very grateful to you for relieving them.
The Suez Canal began to reopen to navigation in April, and then global freight and ship prices plummeted, but they were still much higher than before July 1956.
Bao Yugang saw the business opportunities in this, and after two years of shipping operations, he was already a qualified ship owner.
On this day, he gathered his relatives and friends and decided to buy a second-hand boat.
Bao Yugang introduced passionately: "After two years of operation, we have earned almost 500,000 US dollars, which is almost the price of a ship. Now, the price of second-hand ships in Europe and the United States has plummeted, and it is a good time to officially attack. So, I think Purchase three more ocean-going freighters and then lease them to Japanese shipping companies.”
If he had not leased the boat long-term, he would have earned at least $1.2 million in these two years. Not only that, the boat will also be rented at a high rent (long-term lease status).
Unfortunately, there is no if!
Bao Zhaolong immediately said worriedly: "For three ocean-going freighters, US$500,000 is probably less than one-third of the funds. We will definitely not be able to get the remaining more than one million US dollars."
After Bao Yugang started shipping, his original trading company was still running and he could earn millions of dollars every year, but it was still a drop in the bucket.
"I know, so I hope everyone will work together to raise the maximum amount of funds. I will go to the bank to contact the bank for the rest." Bao Yugang said still confidently.
Later, everyone was infected with Bao Yugang's confidence. After all, shipping has become one of the most profitable industries, and everyone took it to heart. Even without the 'Suez Canal Crisis', the annual return on old ships is still over 30%.
But Bao Yugang didn't mention one thing, that is, the price of a 10,000-ton second-hand cargo ship, aged 20 to 30, has now risen to nearly 700,000 US dollars. Even the second-hand ship of more than 8,000 tons in his hands now costs US$600,000, which has increased in value compared to when he bought it. After all, during the Suez Canal crisis, these ships were worth more than 1 million US dollars, which was more than half the price of new ships.
Now he wants to buy three ocean-going freighters, which will cost approximately US$2 million. The $500,000 the shipping company earned back was only a quarter of that.
Present at the meeting today were not only Bao Yugang's father and brother, but also Bao Yugang's fellow villagers and friends; he gave full play to his banker instincts to raise funds to develop his business.
He also learned from Lin Zhichao that every ship is a company, so a ship will also have other shareholders.
In the end, after raising funds, Bao Yugang received another US$500,000, which was almost everyone's limit.
Bao Yugang said with great satisfaction: "Don't worry, everyone, the Dong'an has been renewed for four years. It can earn about 300,000 US dollars per year. The market is very good."
Bao Yuxing immediately said excitedly: "It seems that shipping is really profitable! We bought the Dong'an for more than half a million US dollars. Now we have almost made back our money. After signing a four-year contract, we can almost make back our money." Two second-hand freighters.”
Everyone agreed.
Make money indeed!
When Bao Yugang saw this, he naturally wanted to seduce people and get everyone to support the shipping industry, so he said: "The Dong'an is only 31 years old and can still operate for about eight years. I believe it can make more contributions. At the same time, , we invest funds in shipping, just like the bank's interest compounding, the number of ships is increasing, just like the development of global shipping."
Everyone is encouraged!
After getting the money, Bao Yugang was equivalent to already having 1 million US dollars, but he knew that he still needed half of the funds to buy three ships and have operating funds.
Of course he knows how to find a bank. He has been trying to please Sandus for these years and is already making plans.
On the weekend, Lin Zhichao and Sandus were fishing on a yacht.
This is a specially built yacht, its level of luxury is no less than that of the Governor's yacht "Mulien". The hull is made of steel and Burmese wood is used. The hull is 22 meters long, powered by a modern diesel engine and equipped with sails.
The internal structure is luxurious, almost made of Burmese wood, and has several independent courtyards.
Compared with later generations of yachts, the disadvantage is that it only has one layer, and because the hull is light, it shakes a little more.
As the 'world's shipping king', Lin Zhichao's decision to build a yacht of the same level as the Hong Kong Governor's yacht is naturally nothing, just a mere US$200,000.
Compared to Onassis's superyacht converted from an old warship, it is simply child's play.
"With the funds of Universal Shipping, wouldn't you consider ordering ships?" Sandus asked during fishing.
Lin Zhichao saved a lot of money in HSBC, which is almost equal to the rent in Europe and the United States, but he has never spent it.
This is obviously abnormal!
Lin Zhichao said: "Now all countries in the world are studying building larger ships, and the technology is not yet mature, so when Japan can build 100,000-ton oil tankers, we will build ships. By then, it will be almost the 1960s, and the demand for oil from Europe, the United States, and Japan will increase. Soon. At the same time, the proportion of world oil tankers in the world’s merchant ships will also increase significantly.”
Sandus immediately understood that Lin Zhichao formulated the shipbuilding plan from an economic point of view. He also learned that oil tankers currently only account for 15% of the world's total merchant ships, but the potential for growth is huge.
In Lin Zhichao’s words, tankers accounting for 30% is a relatively reasonable figure.
"Are there any other reasons?" Sandus continued to ask.
Lin Zhichao turned around and asked curiously: "Why do you ask that?"
Sandus smiled, and then said in a very understanding tone: "As far as I know, you have grasped two industry cycles, and you suddenly stopped shipbuilding. You must think that there will be a slow season in the next few years. You tell me, I guess Is that right?"
MD, someone actually saw through it!
Should I throw it into the sea and feed it to the fish?
Lin Zhichao's thoughts flashed through his mind, and then he said frankly: "A little bit indeed! Since the outbreak of the Suez Canal crisis, shipowners have been encouraged, but I believe that prosperity comes with decline, so there should be a small trough, maybe It will last for one or two years in the late 1950s. After all, global shipyards have received a large number of orders in the past year. If these ships are launched, it will have a short-term impact on the market."
Sandus suddenly understood and said: "So, you want to take advantage of the off-season in the late 1950s to build ships to prepare for the booming economic development in the 1960s?"
Lin Zhichao nodded and said: "That's more or less the case! However, I recently built a batch of ships in Japan, but I didn't pay any money. I don't need to worry about the charterer of these ships, so they are very safe."
After thinking about it for a while, Sandus said frankly: "Actually, Bao Yu just came to me for a shipping loan, and he asked me for a million US dollars. You know, now I only trust you, so I am not very confident about this loan."
Lin Zhichao was stunned, it turned out that he was willing!
But he didn't speak, after all, he couldn't get involved in this matter.
Sandus didn't say much about it, he already knew it.
In his opinion, the Japanese market has been occupied by Lin Zhichao, and it is difficult for Bao Yugang to achieve great results; even if HSBC gives him a loan, he may not be able to find customers for the ship.
What's more, now that HSBC is tied to Global Shipping's ship, the companies cooperating with both parties are making huge profits. Therefore, at this time, there is no reason to support another person to affect the interests of the cooperative company.
The next day.
Bao Yu just came to Sandashi's office and asked about the results of the loan.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Bao! This loan is too risky and I can't agree to it!"
Bao Yugang seemed to hear a thunderbolt from the blue, and then quickly calmed down and said: "Why? Mr. Sandus, your HSBC Bank has not only loaned money to the shipping industry, but has even personally participated in the shipping industry. Do you still regard the shipping industry as A 'black book'?"
Sandus said: "We no longer regard shipping as a black book, but shipping is still a risky industry. Your strength is not enough to reassure us. I hope you will do it step by step and not expand too fast."
Afterwards, no matter what Bao Yugang said, Sang Da Shi refused to let go.
Until Bao Yugang said: "I have a ship, and I have renewed the contract with a Japanese customer for four years, with an annual profit of nearly 300,000 US dollars. I am willing to go to Japan to open a letter of credit, and I hope you can lend us a loan."
It's this drama again, Sandus thought in his heart.
"Even if you get a letter of credit, it's impossible for me to lend you 1 million US dollars!"
As soon as Bao Yu heard this, he immediately became active and climbed along the pole; "Don't ask for 1 million US dollars, 500,000 US dollars will do. Our shareholders have already raised 1 million US dollars, and we can also buy two more boats."
He took a step back, otherwise it would be difficult to buy two boats for $1 million. If we spend another 1.5 million US dollars, we can purchase two 10,000-ton cargo ships.
At this time, Sandus began to think about the pros and cons. With a letter of credit guaranteeing one of the contracts, HSBC's $500,000 was less risky.
Moreover, the current shipping situation is not bad, and the two ships can definitely be rented out.
"Okay, go get the letter of credit!"
Although Bao Yugang was a little disappointed, he still said quickly: "No problem!"
(End of chapter)
