"Hisense Bank?" Niubijian said after thinking for a moment: "Chen Zhiwen's attitude in the past two years is obviously not optimistic about the real estate market. How can the bank he is acquiring now do the opposite?"
"It's a bit strange, but my inside information is that Hisense Bank has received a large amount of deposits in the past few days. Not only people who have withdrawn money before, but also many people who did not originally open accounts at Hisense Bank have also gone there. Among these people, There are many people with millions of deposits. I think Hisense Bank now obviously has more deposits than loans. Although Chen Zhiwen is not optimistic about the real estate market, this does not mean that he is not optimistic about some real estate giants in Hong Kong. Although there are still certain risks, But if you deposit too much, the risk to the bank will be greater," Bao Fuda said with a smile.
"It makes sense to say that. Since this year, house prices have been falling, many people are unwilling to buy a house, the Hang Seng Index is also falling, and stocks cannot be bought, so the only choice is to save money." Niubijian thought for a while, and I think it makes sense.
Some banks in Hong Kong may not be optimistic about the real estate market, but as the largest customer group of banks, the real estate market has long been bound to banks. It is impossible to cut it off completely. At most, risks can be controlled to a certain extent, but in this way, profits will be lost. It will drop significantly. After all, bank deposits need to pay interest.
In the history of Hong Kong and even the world, when there is an economic crisis, banks cannot refrain from lending money, even if they know there are risks. Therefore, at this time, large companies have become the targets of banks' ignorance. After all, large companies have The ability to resist risks is much stronger.
"There are too many fools. These people always don't believe that Hong Kong's real estate market will definitely return to its peak. However, this also has advantages. In the past year, bank interest rates have dropped significantly, and our debt pressure has also been reduced a lot." Bao Fuda smiled. said.
When the market is sluggish, banks can only significantly reduce loan interest rates to acquire customers. Although loan interest rates have remained unchanged a few years ago, when bank interest rates decrease, any company can borrow new debt to repay old debt. Swap low-interest debt for high-interest debt.
This is also a benefit of going against the market. Not only can you take advantage of the sharp drop in land prices to make large-scale acquisitions, but the financing interest has also been reduced.
"Okay, send someone to communicate with Hisense Bank. Everyone is open to do business. Although we had some conflicts with Chen Zhiwen, they will not stop making money just because they have money." Niubijian nodded and said .
Newbigan, Bao Fuda and the Keswick family behind them are all staunch believers that housing prices will continue to rise. For this reason, they are willing to continue to expand, because once land prices recover, Land will make a lot of money, as before. In the past 20 years, during every real estate crisis, many Chinese have used such tactics to expand their scale exponentially. The scale of Real Estate is already the largest in Hong Kong. It does not need to be exponential. As long as it can double, it will be enough to suppress HSBC and others. Chen Zhiwen, this is also the dream of Jardine Matheson Group, to regain the prestige of Hong Kong's largest consortium.
"Okay, I'll break the news now and see how Hisense will react. It's a bit strange. The current general manager of Hisense Bank is actually just a 30-year-old Chinese who has just worked for a few years. It's incredible." Bao Fuda said.
"What's strange? Chen Zhiwen is about the same. We all have to admire his high achievements." Niubijian shook his head and said. In the early decades, Hong Kong's consortiums were based on seniority and background. The bigger the company with a long history, but in the past ten years, it has completely changed. Not to mention several companies owned by Chen Zhiwen, including the real estate five, although the scale is still It's not as good as Land, but it has gradually gained the ability to compete with others.
"Yes." Bao Fuda nodded.
A few days later, Huo Jianning came to Chen Zhiwen's office in Galaxy Tower with some of Hisense Bank's financial data.
"How is it? Are you still used to staying at Hisense?" Chen Zhiwen asked while drinking tea. During this time, he became a little fond of bitter tea. Although it tasted bitter, he still felt good after drinking it. of.
"It's very good. I have to thank Chen Sheng for his strategy of returning part of the interest. Currently, Hisense Bank's deposits have exceeded those before the previous loss of 60 million US dollars was exposed, and they are still increasing." Huo Jianning said with a smile.
"That's good, continue to absorb deposits. Except for the most basic regulations of the Hong Kong government, other funds will be gradually converted into US dollars." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, returning part of the interest is to quickly deposit back the money that was previously withdrawn. But it is estimated that more than half of the credit for being able to exceed the previous total deposits of Hisense Bank is due to his fame.
As the world-recognized richest Chinese man, his popularity in Hong Kong has reached its limit. Almost everyone knows about it. When a bank is available, many people will definitely choose a safe bank for the sake of financial security. With the blessing of Chen Zhiwen's halo, Hisense has also become the first choice target. It is estimated that if Hisense opens branches internationally in the future, it will be able to attract a large number of Chinese customers.
"I have applied through the official website, but the funds involved are too much. I discussed it with Zhou Sheng and decided to conduct currency exchanges with some large companies that intend to invest in Hong Kong. This is convenient for everyone and saves money. The cost of exchange rate conversion," Huo Jianning said.
"Currency swap? It's okay, but as for cooperation with internationally renowned companies, it can prevent the ship from capsizing in the gutter." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
Hutchison Whampoa and Hisense Bank's exchange of funds for U.S. dollars involves hundreds of millions of dollars. If a few years ago, such as when Chen Zhiwen invested in gold, there would be no problem as long as it was advanced for a period of time. But this year, the time point has become more sensitive. Any large-scale exchange may cause turmoil.
Fortunately, most of the profits Chen Zhiwen made overseas before were in foreign exchange. Unless Hong Kong needed it, they were not converted back to Hong Kong dollars. The reason for continuing the exchange this time is because Hutchison Whampoa has still made money from real estate in Hong Kong in the past two years. I bought a lot of money, plus a large amount of Hong Kong dollar deposits in Hisense Bank, which could not be converted into US dollars. When the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate plummeted, I would have lost too much, almost losing half of my money.
In addition to real estate, large factories, and the most basic operating funds, Chen Zhiwen also plans to convert everything else into foreign exchange now. This way, when the Hong Kong dollar crisis breaks out, not only will he not lose money, but he can also help stabilize the world as the savior of "saving the Hong Kong dollar." Hong Kong dollars, you can also get huge profits plus various favors and so on.
"That's no problem. We are also cooperating with some Japanese consortiums and banks. These Japanese consortiums seem to be as optimistic about Hong Kong's real estate as Land." Huo Jianning said.
"It's right in the long run. I'm not optimistic about it, and it's only in the short term." Chen Zhiwen said that from 1985 to 1997, Hong Kong's housing prices increased nearly 10 times, and the real estate crisis before 1985 was actually nothing more. It’s just cut in half. From a statistical point of view, Hong Kong’s future housing prices still have the potential to increase by five times.
Many overseas financial groups are also optimistic about Hong Kong as a window to the mainland and are betting on the future. However, they will soon face a critical attack. Before Japan's own real estate market took off, many Japanese consortiums and banks liked to invest in Hong Kong.
"I also received news from Land that they plan to seek a loan of HK$3 billion from us." Huo Jianning added.
"3 billion Hong Kong dollars? Each transaction is so big." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said: "It's negotiable to reply to them, but if Niubijian comes, I will go too."
A business of HK$3 billion is enough for the big boss Chen Zhiwen to come forward personally, especially when it comes to people from Jardine Matheson Land.
"Okay, then I'll make arrangements." Huo Jianning said.
On June 3, Hong Kong has entered summer.
In the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the heads of the two largest financial groups in Hong Kong met here.
"Mr. Niubijian, the decoration of your Cultural Oriental Hotel is really luxurious. It is much better than my Hilton." Chen Zhiwen came to the presidential suite and said with a smile after seeing Niubijian and Bao Fuda.
"It has just been renovated. In terms of location, it is still not as good as the Hilton Hotel. If Mr. Chen is willing to renovate it again, business will definitely be better given the location." Newbijian said with a smile: "It's just that , Hilton Hotel, Chen Sheng doesn’t have control yet, does he?”
"It's just a matter of time." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. He purchased the Hilton Hotel property too early just for the land under the hotel, which was large enough and in a good location. It is also very rare in Central. Even if it waits until next year, such a piece of land will cost at least one billion Hong Kong dollars, and the cost of his original acquisition is only one-fifth of this price. Although housing prices will fall next year, from 73-81 House prices have increased too much.
At present, its business is getting bigger and bigger, and the current Galaxy Building is obviously not enough. Midea's offices have been moved to the vicinity of Yuen Long Industrial Park. Fortunately, Midea is characterized as a large manufacturing company, so it does not mean that it needs to stay there. Bustling Central.
In the original history, Li Jiacheng demolished the Hilton Hotel and built it as the headquarters of Cheung Kong Industries. Now, it is almost the same. He only needs to wait for the right time to prepare to take back the Hilton Hotel.
"That's true." Niubijian nodded. At that time, a group of them also laughed at Chen Zhiwen for acquiring hotel properties that he had no control over. However, with the skyrocketing land prices, land in Central has become even more rare. Now the Hilton Hotel, the so-called liquidated damages and The cost of demolition is a drop in the bucket compared to the land price. It’s all about earning a high-quality land in Central. Even if it is compared to the land king in Exchange Square, it is only smaller in area and not close to the sea.
"Let's talk about business, shall we?" Chen Zhiwen said, getting straight to the point.
"Okay, let's be honest, I hope to borrow 3 billion Hong Kong dollars from Hisense Bank." Newbijian said.
"What is Yihe going to use such a large amount for?" Chen Zhiwen asked. It is normal for banks to ask about the purpose of their loans. There are only a few special loans, regardless of the destination, but these generally have high interest rates and require Focus on risk issues.
"For the land that was auctioned last year, we need to pay a third tranche of funds to the Hong Kong government, a total of 1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars. In addition, we also need to start the Exchange Square project." Niubijian said, there is nothing to hide about this kind of thing. , for a loan involving such a large amount of money, the bank will definitely verify it later.
"What is the collateral?" Chen Zhiwen said. The land auctioned by the Hong Kong government, not to mention the king land, is just ordinary land, and the average price is hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars. Although there are many companies with a market value of billions in Hong Kong, they can all take it out at once. Hundreds of millions is not much, so most bidders pay in batches. They pay a small amount first to get the ownership of the land, and then mortgage it to the bank to obtain funds and then provide subsequent funds to the Hong Kong government and future funds. The construction cost, for high-priced land like Diwang, may have to be paid in three or four installments.
"Future Exchange Square earnings," Newbijian said.
"You should have mortgaged this equity to HSBC, right?" Chen Zhiwen said. This involves a large amount of funds, and it is not difficult for banks to find out. In the era before the Internet, many people would mortgage multiple times with different banks, but This is only suitable for small properties and large mortgages. There will be communication between various banks. After all, everyone may be a victim.
However, there is an exception, and that is overseas banks. There are too many overseas banks, and they have no habit of communicating with Hong Kong banks. In addition, sometimes banks turn a blind eye, which makes many large financial groups This is often done, and this is one of the reasons why there are so many overseas banks in Hong Kong. It is not because there are not enough banks in Hong Kong, but because there are special needs.
"Yes, but the total area of the Exchange Square will exceed 2 million square feet in the future. If housing prices return to last year's prices, the rent alone will cost 5 to 6 billion a year, and the value can reach as high as 20 billion." Newbijian said.
"But what if the land price cannot be recovered?" Chen Zhiwen asked.
The value of Land King is really high, otherwise it would not have been sold for HK$7.3 billion, which is higher than the market value of Cheung Kong Holdings. The area of the building built on this land is actually too large, and it is the size of ordinary Central buildings. 5-7 times. In 1985, Land was in financial crisis, but it would rather sell Hong Kong Electric, which owned the monopoly power generation business and a large amount of high-quality land, than sell the building project, which shows its value.
However, that will be in the future. In a few months, land prices in Hong Kong will plummet.
"Does Mr. Chen not believe that Hong Kong's future will be better?" Niubijian asked with a smile, but this sentence was a trap.
"Of course I believe it, but in business, I can grant a loan of HK$3 billion, but it must have sufficient collateral." Chen Zhiwen said.
“I could add some other properties, but let me tell you in advance, these are all mortgaged,” Newbijian said.
"What about your stocks? Or the stocks and properties of other subsidiaries?" Chen Zhiwen asked.
"It's almost the same." Newbijian added.
"So you are going to come here and use my loan for free?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. Just like in the past, Real Estate mortgaged everything it could and used it to expand and purchase other large companies, properties, land, etc. These purchases were also included in the mortgage when the transaction was completed. Even because of its reputation, many loans may actually be unsecured.
Jardine is really confident about the future of Hong Kong's land prices. He is right to be wrong. The end point is beautiful, but the pits on the road have to be jumped over. With such expansion, Hong Kong's land prices will be cut in half next year, and you will have to shed your skin even if you don't die. , in history, Landmark survived the economic crisis and only lost some properties and HK Electric, but now?
"I can use Jardine Group's overseas projects as collateral. This is a list of some of our overseas assets." Newbijian handed over a document. Jardine has invested a lot overseas, and large-scale projects are also public. It's nothing. Need to keep confidential.
"Overseas project? No mortgage?" Chen Zhiwen took it. He actually had no interest in it, but it didn't hurt to take a look.
"There are none of them here," said Newbijian.
"I'm not interested in anything else except this." Chen Zhiwen drew a circle on the paper and then gave it back to Niubijian.
Newbijian took the paper, saw the circle on it, and said, "Rio Tinto?"
(End of chapter)
