Chapter 751 Port Arrangement and Planning Hong Kong Lighting

Chapter 751 Port Arrangement and Planning Hong Kong Lighting

Chapter 751 Port Arrangement and Planning Hong Kong Lighting

Richard Xin said: "Mr. Yang, I think Hutchison should lose weight."

"How to lose weight?" Yang Wendong asked.

Richard replied: "Except for the core business, all other businesses are sold. In the past few years, Qi Dezun blindly acquired various types of companies in order to increase the market value of the stock market. They are basically unrelated to each other;
It wouldn't be a big problem if the market was good at that time, but now we are basically suffering heavy losses, so I think we would rather suffer losses at the level of Huang General Company than divest these businesses as soon as possible. As long as we are free of these burdens, we can devote all our energy to operating several industries that we are good at, which will definitely allow the business operations to return to normal."

Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "Which industries do you think Hutchison should retain?"

Richard Xin was obviously well prepared and said, "Trade is the foundation of Hutchison Whampoa. We now have an annual income of 200 to 300 million yuan. We also have real estate, ports, shipping, some financial investments, and some specific businesses. I also need to identify them."

"Okay, Hutchison has too many businesses now, and it won't be too much to cut off more than half. For this part, you should choose it first, and then show it to me." Yang Wendong said: "But you have to control the shipping business appropriately. If you really want to do it, just focus on the container business. Hutchison also has a port, and I have containers to sell at Changxing Industrial."

Since the power is delegated, Yang Wendong will be responsible only for strategic planning, just like other types of subsidiaries, and will not be responsible for small details. However, he will still take a look at the specific plans, and he will also inquire about some abnormal ones.

Richard Xin asked in surprise: "Mr. Yang is not optimistic about the shipping market? But isn't Changxing Shipping very large in scale?"

"You may not have paid close attention to it. In fact, the scale of Changxing Shipping has been shrinking. In the future, it will focus on container business." Yang Wendong shook his head and said.

It is now 1975, and the Suez Canal is about to open. Once it happens, global shipping prices will plummet, and the distances of the world's most important routes to the East Coast of the United States and Europe will be shortened a lot. In addition, the economic crisis brought about by the oil crisis, the rise in oil prices, and the launch of a large number of new ships in the past few years, these combined factors are the root causes of future global ship disasters;
The only exception is container freight. Under the background of global free trade and the rise of the Asian economy, there is a high demand for various daily necessities, all of which rely on containers.

In the next ten or even twenty years, the profits of container freight will not be so huge, but it is still no problem to maintain the operation of the enterprise. Therefore, Changxing Shipping sold a large number of tankers in the past two years and focused on operating containers and a few bulk cargo ships.
Starting from this year, it is impossible to expect to make big money from shipping. It is enough to be able to continue. When the shipping crisis occurs in the future, the business of global shipyards will be even worse. Each ship is a large order worthy of the government's attention, which may provide employment for tens of thousands of people. This will also be one of the important factors for Yang Wendong to enhance his local influence. Even some developed countries will need him.

Richard was a little skeptical, but he didn't dare to show it. In addition, Hutchison Whampoa could not expand its fleet at the moment, so he agreed: "Okay, then I will sell the tanker too, so that I can recover some funds."

"Well, okay, sell it as soon as possible, don't wait too long." Yang Wendong said again.

He seemed to remember that the Suez Canal was opened in mid-75, and the relevant news might be released earlier, so Hutchison Whampoa did not have much time left. Once the news of the canal's opening came out, ship prices might plummet immediately.

Richard Xin agreed, "Yes, Mr. Yang."

Yang Wendong continued, "As for the rest, you can make your own decisions. Fang Sheng will become the vice president of Hutchison and assist you in handling Hutchison's business."

Richard still couldn't fully trust his letter, and he wouldn't be making any major acquisitions in the future, so Fang Xianming could stay in Hutchison for a while. With his professional knowledge, he could help Hutchison sell its messy businesses.

"Okay, thank you Mr. Fang for your help." Richard Xin said with a smile;
He also knew that this was a temporary position arranged for him by Yang Wendong, but it was not a big problem. At least during this period of time, he also needed to manage Hutchison seriously, otherwise, after a long time, he would probably have to leave like Qi Dezun.

After the negotiation, Yang Wendong followed Richard Xin to the Hutchison House in Central, which is the headquarters of Hutchison Whampoa;

"The location here is good, but it's a bit low." Yang Wendong said, looking at the 20-story Hutchison House in front of him.

Richard explained, “Mr. Yang, this building was built by Qi Dezun himself on the land he bought in 1968. At that time, 20-story buildings were the norm in Hong Kong and were not considered short;

However, Qi Dezun had complained two years ago that the building was a bit crowded, mainly because in 68, even Qi Dezun did not expect that Hutchison would develop so fast. "

"Yes, no one knows their future, and sometimes people even underestimate it." Yang Wendong said with a smile.

Many companies in the past, such as Penguin, Alibaba, ByteDance, etc., did not think that they could become the most advanced companies in China when they started their businesses. Xiao Li even planned to sell Penguin, but no one took over.
The same is true even at the national level. When the mainland began its reform and opening up, its per capita GDP was fourth from the bottom in the world, even worse than many African countries. The core goal of economic development through reform and opening up was to ensure that the people had enough food to eat and had meat for every meal. The target was the same as that of ordinary developing countries. But no one would have imagined that more than 40 years later, the mainland would become the world's second largest GDP country, even surpassing the United States in all aspects.

Only a time traveler like him might be a little more confident. After all, he knows the future. As long as he has the first pot of gold, it will be easy to succeed in the future, and his achievements will be particularly high.

Richard Xin continued, "It's not cost-effective to demolish it now. When Hutchison's business returns to normal, we can move to another building somewhere else."

"Well, I'm afraid there won't be such a good location anymore." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Let's see what happens later. This piece of land is still not small, so we can demolish it."

Hutchison House is actually the Cheung Kong Building owned by Li Ka-shing in his previous life. It is located next to the Bank of China Tower and the new HSBC Building. The geographical location is absolutely superior, and there are few similar ones in the entire Hong Kong Island.

Richard Xin smiled and said, "Then Yang Sheng will decide."

"Let's talk about it later. Let's go in and take a look." Yang Wendong did not continue. Anyway, it would probably take until the 80s to demolish it.

Soon, Yang Wendong arrived at the office on the top floor. Richard Xin said, "Mr. Yang, the best view here used to belong to Qi Dezun. How about I redecorate it for you?"

"No need, you can keep it for yourself. The Hutchison House is already very crowded, and there aren't many of us here, so it's not necessary." Yang Wendong shook his head.

Richard Xin said quickly, "Okay." Yang Wendong also casually looked at some of the information on the table, and then said, "There are three things you should prepare to do. This is something I value very much, and Fang Sheng will also assist you."

"Please speak, Mr. Yang." Richard Xin replied immediately;

Now that he has a new boss, he also needs to show off, and the most direct thing is to do the things that are assigned to him.

Yang Wendong said: "Now Hutchison has many properties, but the most valuable ones are actually only three. The first is the port. In this area, you will work together with the ports under Cheung Kong Infrastructure and Wharf Holdings to provide good external business services.
The current situation is not a monopoly, but Hong Kong's port is already facing competition from many Asian ports, especially Singapore's. In comparison, we do not have a geographical advantage, so we must improve everything and make Hong Kong the future cargo center of Asia."

Previously, Cheung Hing Infrastructure had two container terminals, Wharf Holdings had one, and Hutchison Whampoa also had one. In other words, of the five terminals in Hong Kong, the Group owns four.

If it were an ordinary consortium, it would certainly try to establish a monopoly and suck blood from Hong Kong. After all, the factory's export and Hong Kong's import of goods need to go through the container terminal;

But Yang Wendong does not care about this little bit of benefit from Hong Kong. As an international port, the biggest profit comes from re-export trade. If this can be strengthened, there will be no upper limit.

Of course, in a few years, when the mainland opens up, it will need to rely on Hong Kong's ports for exports for a long time. This is also a way to make money without doing anything. He will not give up this benefit, but he will not sit back and do nothing about it either.
You have to know that in the past, if the central government of the mainland had not deliberately not built large ports around Hong Kong to leave room for Hong Kong, the Hong Kong docks would have been abandoned long ago.

Richard Xin agreed, "No problem, Mr. Yang, I will also arrange people to cooperate with Changxing Group's plan for the dock, which is also one of Hutchison's important businesses."

"Well, OK." Yang Wendong nodded, and then said, "The second thing is that Hutchison Whampoa holds 33% of Hong Kong Electric shares, right?"

Richard Xin shook his head and said, "No, at the beginning of the year, when Hutchison was in financial difficulty, Qi Dezun sold 10% of his shares to cash out, but not on the stock market, but directly to the Mobil Group."

"What? Why didn't he tell me about this?" Yang Wendong's face changed;
If you just sold it on the stock market, it doesn’t matter, you can always find a way to get the stock back, at most you may spend a different amount of money;
But now that these stocks are in Mobil's hands, it will be difficult to acquire them again.

Richard Xin said: "He concealed it on purpose. In fact, he was selling not only HK Electric shares, but also some properties in order to raise more funds and avoid debt collapse;

At that time, he actually guessed that the board of directors or shareholders' meeting might impeach him, so he didn't care. Anyway, he had to leave because he couldn't solve the debt crisis. "

"He's right to think so." Yang Wendong shook his head helplessly;
In fact, Hong Kong's company law is indeed not perfect. In many cases, the board of directors really cannot suppress some management, such as HSBC and Jardine Matheson, or the management also has the opportunity to secretly conceal the truth from the board of directors, at least in the short term.

Richard Xin continued, "It was mainly because Qi Dezun wanted to borrow money from HK Electric and was rejected, so he thought about selling his shares;

In fact, Mobil wanted to take all of it, but Qi Dezun may have considered the future, so he only sold ten points. "

"In that case, I have to take action in advance." Yang Wendong frowned slightly and looked at Fang Xianming and said, "Old Fang, organize funds immediately and gradually purchase HK Electric shares from the secondary market. Also contact some of HK Electric's shareholders and don't reveal your identity."

History has changed too much. If Mobil, the world's top oil giant, is interested in HK Electric, it will be the biggest threat to him.

The entire Changxing Group combined is probably not as big as a part of Mobil. In this era, oil and automobiles are the absolute giants. If electronic technology does not rise, the new generation of consortiums will never be able to compete with these old brands.

Fang Xianming immediately replied: "Okay."

Richard Xin asked in shock: "Mr. Yang, are you still planning to acquire Hong Kong Electric?"

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "I have this plan. Hutchison Whampoa was originally a major shareholder of HK Electric, but HK Electric always ignores Hutchison Whampoa. I have to change the situation."

HK Electric has two greatest assets. One is that as a century-old enterprise, it is still in Hong Kong Island and naturally has a large number of high-quality properties. In his previous life, Li Jiacheng built four major walled villages in Hong Kong in the 1980s and 1990s, two of which were from HK Electric.
The second is naturally the power generation business. This business is very stable and supplies electricity to Hong Kong Island. In the future, Hong Kong Island will be full of tall buildings and the demand for electricity will be even higher. Although it is only half of the city, the stable income of hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in the future year is still very good. And if you control electricity, the influence will be completely different.

Another point is that in the past, Hong Kong Electric did not expand abroad, but just stayed in Hong Kong Island like a waste. If it were in my hands now, I would definitely expand abroad. Not to mention other things, even in the past, the mainland had a high demand for power generation after the reform and opening up, and foreign investment in power plants would be allowed;
Although the power generation business may not be able to compete with high-quality highways, there are actually only a few high-quality highways, but the number of power plants is almost unlimited. Even with large investments, the returns are relatively stable.

A large number of power plants have huge demands for purchasing coal, which, taken together, is also a resource. The oil industry is still dominated by sellers, but the coal industry is a buyer's market.

Richard Xin asked: "Does the shares held by Hutchison need to be transferred to Changxing Group?"

"Not for now, we just need to cooperate." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "You have 23 points, and I have 20 points, which is enough for controlling stakes. Anyway, HK Electric is a public enterprise and cannot be privatized."

One of the benefits of having both Hutchison Whampoa and HK Electric listed companies is that they can invest in China, which means it is not just one person's investment.
Although there was a high probability that nothing would go wrong if I were alone, there were too many uncertainties in the 80s, so this could be considered a benefit.

PS: Ask for monthly ticket

(End of this chapter)