Chapter 270 Watsons for Sale
"Okay, I will find a time to ask him out." Yang Wendong nodded and said.
Doing business in Hong Kong is still inseparable from HSBC. Even if its subsidiary Changxing Industrial makes tens of millions a year, it is simply not enough to invest this amount of money in real estate and shipping.
Only by using the leverage of a bank can you make your business bigger, and the largest bank in Hong Kong is HSBC.
East Asia and Hang Seng can only be said to be young leaders, but in terms of scale, they are far behind HSBC.
If it is a medium-sized enterprise, it does not matter who it cooperates with. It will take a long time to choose whichever company provides the cooperation conditions. However, large-scale enterprises, especially those involving shipping, are definitely not something that small local banks in Hong Kong can participate in. Even if HSBC has to bear a lot of risks when entering.
The next day, in a bridal shop in Central, Hong Kong:
Bai Yushan was trying on a wedding dress, and there was an identical-looking "mirror man" next to her, helping and giving guidance.
After a while, they walked out of the fitting room. Yang Wendong glanced at the two of them and asked, "You two look the same, are you sure you want to be the bridesmaid?"
"Yes, of course I will be the bridesmaid when my sister gets married?" Bai Yujie said matter-of-factly.
"Okay, it's up to you, but do you have to change the color of your clothes?" Yang Wendong said no more.
Two people who look the same are wearing white clothes together. Although the clothes will be different, it is still a bit easy for people to get confused
Bai Yujie ignored Yang Wendong and went to the wedding dress. My sister whispered a few words, and then trotted back to change clothes.
“Come, sit down, this dress is not convenient to wear.” Yang Wendong stepped forward and twisted up part of the wedding dress.
“Well,” Bai Yushan said after sitting down, “Don’t you want to try on the clothes?”
"I've tried it on a long time ago, and I've already customized the suit." Yang Wendong said with a shrug.
Men's clothes are much simpler than women's. This is why, in the global clothing market, women and children dominate the market, while the men's market lags far behind.
But the advantage is that it is simple and clear. The success of Hailan House in the previous life was actually to capture this point.
"Oh." Bai Yushan said again: "Then I will try on the clothes faster, so as not to make you too boring here."
"No, you try it slowly, no Urgent." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "I read a lot of newspapers here. Even if I don't come here, I often read newspapers in the office."
In an era when there was no entertainment, reading newspapers became the most popular way of entertainment.
It has been more than 4 years since he traveled to Hong Kong, and he has almost forgotten what it feels like to play with a smartphone and surf the Internet on a computer
He is also used to killing time by reading newspapers and various books.
"Okay." Bai Yushan said with a smile.
Yang Wendong said again: "You have to choose a good-looking wedding dress. This is your only chance in your life."
"Yes." Bai Yushan nodded, and then said: "We have to hurry up. Do we have to have dinner with Mr. Sanders later?"
"There is still a little more than an hour and a half, and it's not that urgent. "Yang Wendong said: "Then you go ahead."
"Okay." Bai Yushan took another sip of water and headed towards the locker room.
Several staff in the store immediately surrounded her like stars holding the moon.
After waiting for others to enter, Yang Wendong looked down at the newspaper again. During this time, there were many things going on in ZZ, and he was very concerned about it.
At noon, after Bai Yujie was sent away, Yang Wendong and Bai Yushan, dressed in formal attire, came to a high-end Western-style coffee shop near Central:
"Mr. Sanders, hello."
In a private room, Yang Wendong met Sanders.
"Yang Sheng, Cassie, or should I be Mrs. Yang?" Sanders said with a smile.
Yang Wendong said: "Everything is fine, it will only take less than a month."
His wedding to Bai Yushan will be held next month, but relatively speaking, it won't be on such a large scale this time. It's not that Yang Wendong doesn't want to, but it's Hong Kong's customary restrictions.
"Congratulations." Sanders said.
"Thank you." Yang Wendong said again: "I also want to congratulate Mr. Sanders on becoming the chief executive of HSBC Bank."
"Haha, Yang Sheng is really well-informed." Sanders smiled and said: "Actually, my ability to become the chief executive of HSBC has a lot to do with my efforts in promoting cooperation between HSBC and Chinese companies over the past decade.
Over the past ten years , Chinese-owned enterprises in Hong Kong are springing up like bamboo shoots, which has brought unprecedented business opportunities to Hong Kong’s banking industry. On the contrary, although British-owned enterprises are now large in scale, they do not seem to see any growth trend. "< br>
"This is also the result of the support of Hong Kong banks." Yang Wendong also said: "Without the support of the banking industry, it would be difficult for Chinese-owned factories or Chinese-owned real estate companies or even shipping companies in Hong Kong to develop."
< br>Not to mention real estate and shipping, these two industries are absolutely dependent on banks; and the same is true for industry.
Most of Hong Kong's factories relied on banks in the early days. Two rising stars in the banking industry, Liao Chuangxing and Hang Seng, actually seized this opportunity to develop.
Sanders nodded and said: "That's good. This is how our bank and your company should cooperate. I hope that we can continue to maintain the current cooperation model in the future."
" I hope so too." Yang Wendong nodded and said: "Changxing Shipping will continue to acquire second-hand freighters around the world, and I hope HSBC can provide financial support."
Although there are now more than 20 second-hand freighters, the number is obviously still not enough. Not to mention old shipping companies like Swire and Wheelock, they are far behind Dong Haoyun and Zhao Congyan.
Therefore, he still has to continue to acquire ships. Even if Changxing Industrial does not need so many ships one day, the rapidly increasing global trade will also need them. In the short term, there will still be grain transportation from the mainland and water transportation from Hong Kong. need.
"Yang Sheng is still planning to buy old ships on such a large scale?" Sanders was a little surprised and asked: "With Yang Sheng's economic situation, it is completely possible to buy new ships? Even if the quantity you want to buy is larger, Yes, can I or the Japanese bank provide loans? "
"I know, I will also buy new ships, probably in the second half of this year," Yang Wendong replied: "But second-hand ships are also available. It won’t stop. Relatively speaking, the purchase speed of second-hand ships is definitely much faster.”
No matter how many benefits new ships have, they must be built one by one, let’s not talk about them. No matter how many shipyards or other buyers, even at the fastest speed, it will take about 10 months to build an ordinary 10,000-ton cargo ship, and larger ones will take even longer. Although second-hand freighters are old and troublesome to maintain, their transaction speed is fast and they can increase the tonnage of Changxing Shipping in a short period of time, thus making the most comprehensive preparations for the shipping crisis caused by the Middle East crisis.
“It seems that Yang Sheng wants to become the shipping king of Hong Kong as quickly as possible.” Sanders smiled and asked: “How much tonnage is Yang Sheng planning to purchase in the second half of this year? Freighter? ”
HSBC has relaxed its restrictions on shipping investment, so of course it must seize this market, especially for big customers like Yang Wendong, who often provide loans of millions or even tens of millions of dollars. , for such a large project, it is appropriate for HSBC’s senior team to come forward in person.
Yang Wendong said: "We can't give a definite number yet, but the tonnage will not be low, so I may purchase a large oil tanker or a very large cargo ship. The tonnage of one ship may be around 50,000 to 100,000 tons."
When the container era is about to come, the risk will be relatively high if we continue to purchase ordinary new freighters of 10,000 tons on a large scale; this risk is not that we will lose money, but that with the same investment now, purchasing these may You will earn a lot less.
However, large cargo ships or oil tankers that transport bulk commodities will not be replaced. At most, their tonnage will become larger and larger.
Therefore, second-hand ships buy small 10,000-ton cargo ships, and new ships need to gradually buy large ships to ensure their competitiveness, because the larger the tonnage of the ship, the lower the transportation cost per unit weight. .
As early as 1959, shipping king Dong Haoyun purchased a 100,000-ton oil tanker from Japan. It is said that the capital was paid back in 3 years, followed by net profit.
"Yang Sheng Do you want to enter the tanker market? The risk is not small," Sanders asked.
Yang Wendong said: "It's a bit risky, but isn't it like this in business? Risks and profits coexist?"
In the early days, Changxing Shipping did not operate oil tankers. Although it had insurance, if an oil leakage did occur, the loss would be considerable.
However, as its scale expands, its ability to resist risks has become much stronger. In addition, modern oil tankers adopt a multi-warehouse model, which can reduce losses and pollution even if an oil leak does occur.
And this kind of thing itself is also very unlikely. There are so many oil tankers operating on the sea in the world every year, but there will not be a major oil spill in several years.
"That's good." Sanders nodded and said: "If Yang Sheng wants to buy a new ship, HSBC will naturally give us full support;
A second-hand freighter is also possible, but The interest rate will be higher, which is also the rule of the banking industry. ”
"No problem, I understand." Yang Wendong said with a smile.
Profits are naturally higher in risky industries, just like the oil transportation business he wants to do. Because of the high risk, the charges are much more expensive than other goods;
Sanders If you don’t know the future and there will be a shipping crisis in the future, it is indeed risky to mortgage your second-hand ship, which will naturally require high interest rates.
"I wish us a happy cooperation." Sanders raised his coffee cup as if "toasting".
"Same." Yang Wendong did the same thing.
Sanders paused and then asked: "Yang Sheng, I heard that your Four Seasons Hotel is about to start construction?"
"Yes, we are ready to start digging the foundation." Yang Wendong nodded and said.
Just a few days ago, Four Seasons Hotel officially signed a cooperation agreement with Pei Jinming, and then engineers from Pei Jinming Architectural Office began to direct the entrance to the building to dig the foundation.
Such a big movement, with Sanders' ears and eyes, it is normal to know.
"Congratulations to Yang Sheng, you will soon become a hotel tycoon in Hong Kong." After Sanders finished speaking, he added: "Yang Sheng, in fact, you can also choose to invest in the real estate business in Hong Kong. I’m from HSBC”
"If the conditions are favorable, I will naturally not refuse." Yang Wendong said with a smile.
In fact, it is not just that he specifically chose Chinese-funded banks to cooperate in real estate business, but also in the real estate business in Hong Kong, the loan conditions of HSBC and Standard Chartered are always not as good as those of Chinese-funded banks.
This is normal. Just like the relationship between the four major domestic banks and many small banks in the previous life, the conditions of small banks will definitely be better.
As a time traveler, he knows which "small banks" will or will not have problems in the future. If there is no risk, he will naturally choose small banks.
“Well, I understand, but HSBC has stronger financial strength. With the scale of Yang Sheng’s future real estate investment in Hong Kong, it is obviously more convenient to choose HSBC.” Sanders said with a smile.
Yang Wendong also nodded and said: "Okay, I will consider HSBC if I have the opportunity."
'OK.' Sanders nodded and said: "Yang Sheng, I have news here, maybe you I'll be interested."
"What news?" Yang Wendong asked curiously.
Sanders did not answer directly, but asked instead: "Does Yang Sheng know about Watsons?"
"Watsons? Of course you know, soda sellers and Chinese medicine sellers." Yang Wendong thought for a moment. I thought and asked: "Why did Mr. Sanders mention this Watson?"
In the previous life, Watsons was best at the retail business. One of its brands, Parknshop, was the only retail supermarket chain in Hong Kong, and another directly branded cosmetics store opened all over the world, becoming the world's largest cosmetics retail giant. one.
But all of this is actually Lao Li’s credit. After acquiring Hutchison Whampoa in the 1980s, he focused on developing Watsons’ retail business, which gave rise to the Hong Kong retail giant in his previous life.
The real history of Watsons can even be traced back to the early 19th century. In the early years, Watsons opened pharmacies and sold soda drinks.
However, although it has a long history, older than HSBC and Jardine, its development was too wasteful, and it was only in the hands of Li Jiacheng that it was carried forward.
Sanders said: "This Watsons is also an old customer of my HSBC, but in the past few years, their business has been developing too poorly, and the company has suffered heavy losses;
So the current management wants to sell their company, but both Jardine Matheson and Swire have made it clear that they are not interested. As a creditor bank, I also want to find a suitable buyer for it. "
"You want me to acquire Watsons? Yang Wendong was a little interested, but he didn't show it on his face: "But such a company has nothing to do with my business?" What did I acquire? "
Thinking is one thing, but you must not show it casually. You also need to belittle it verbally. This is in your own interests.
Sanders said with a smile: "Watson Although it is indeed not very good, it is indeed the largest pharmaceutical sales company in Hong Kong. It also has a soda production company and sales channels in Hong Kong;
Isn't Yang Sheng interested in these? With Yang Sheng’s ability, he may be able to develop these two businesses”
PS: Please give me monthly tickets
Wish you all a happy Chinese Valentine's Day
(End of this chapter)