Chapter 102: Diversified Development
After settling the contract matters, Lin Haoran finally felt completely relieved.
This trip had been much simpler and smoother than he had imagined.
The next morning, they once again took a passenger ship back to Doha.
Once there, he successfully completed the money transfer arrangements.
Afterward, Lin Haoran took the three others and traveled around various places in the Middle East, including Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.
In his previous life, he simply did not have the ability to do something like this.
As long as they avoided chaotic countries like Iran and Lebanon, there were basically no problems.
Even Iraq, despite everything that would happen in the future, was still very peaceful this year.
During the 1970s, Iraq relied on its abundant oil and natural gas resources to rapidly develop its economy. The people lived wealthy lives, and the country’s prosperity was astonishing, completely comparable to developed nations.
However, Lin Haoran knew that two years later, the Iran-Iraq War would begin. At that time, Iraq would no longer be peaceful.
During this period, he would regularly make international calls to communicate with Burton, Lin Wan’an, and the others.
After spending a full week traveling in Iraq, Lin Haoran finally took the three people from Baghdad International Airport and flew back to Cairo, Egypt.
During this period, Egypt appeared peaceful on the surface, but riots still occurred from time to time.
The reason was that Egypt had become the first Arab country to recognize Israel the previous year. This caused the Egyptian government to change from being regarded as the leader of Arab nations into almost being viewed as a traitor by many Arab countries.
Because of this, there were many extremists within the country who frequently caused disturbances.
Therefore, although Lin Haoran had great interest in this country, one of the world's four ancient civilizations, he did not stay in Egypt for long for safety reasons.
He quickly departed from Cairo International Airport, with his destination being Hong Kong.
---
At 3:30 p.m. on November 20, an airplane slowly landed at Kai Tak International Airport.
Lin Haoran and Li Weiguo walked out of the aircraft. Looking at the familiar scenery of Victoria Harbour in the distance, smiles appeared on their faces.
Even Lin Haoran himself had not expected that this trip would last for such a long time.
The translator’s payment had already been settled, so after getting off the plane, Lin Haoran parted ways with him.
Qingzhou Yingni Company was located not far from the airport. Since he had already returned to Hong Kong, Lin Haoran decided to visit Qingzhou Yingni first.
When he arrived at Qingzhou Yingni Company, there were no major changes.
The factory was still operating busily.
After returning to the office, Burton arrived shortly after receiving the news. He was carrying a stack of documents in his hands.
"Boss, these are the documents regarding the cement factory we purchased on Luzon Island."
"I personally inspected the place. The facilities there are complete. After we modify some of the production processes and equipment, we will be able to begin production."
Burton respectfully placed the documents on Lin Haoran’s desk.
A week ago, when Lin Haoran called Burton, Burton had reported that he had already acquired a nearly bankrupt cement factory near Manila, Luzon Island.
The total cost was 2.38 million Hong Kong dollars.
The scale of this factory was much larger than Huafeng Cement Factory.
Once it resumed normal operations, its production capacity would be enough to handle the orders from Luzon Island.
The land prices in the suburbs of Manila were much cheaper compared with Hong Kong.
Furthermore, the original owner of the factory had no intention of continuing operations and only wanted to get rid of the burden as quickly as possible.
Therefore, he eventually sold it to Qingzhou Yingni Company at a loss.
Before Harold Centurion left his position, the company still had more than 8 million Hong Kong dollars in available funds.
This was also thanks to Lin Haoran’s decisive acquisition.
Otherwise, Harold Centurion would not have had time to react, and those millions of Hong Kong dollars would likely have been gradually taken away by him through various methods.
Lin Haoran opened the documents.
They contained detailed information about the cement factory, along with many photographs.
"This cement factory went bankrupt because of poor quality, right?"
"The reason Qingzhou Yingni has been able to dominate Hong Kong and Macau is because our quality is good enough."
"Although we acquired this factory, we must ensure that our quality standards are met before starting production."
"The Qingzhou Yingni brand has existed for nearly a hundred years. I do not want its reputation ruined after I take over."
Lin Haoran spoke while looking through the documents.
"Boss, I understand. I will strictly control the quality."
Burton spoke seriously.
"Speaking of which, there is a Huafeng Cement Factory in Yuen Long. You know about this, right?"
Lin Haoran put down the documents and looked up.
"After joining Qingzhou Yingni Company, I heard about that factory, but I do not know much about it."
"I heard that Huafeng Cement Factory has a decent-sized factory area, but its production capacity is not very strong."
"The quality of its cement is slightly worse than ours, and it does not have many customers. It poses no threat to Qingzhou Yingni Company."
"Boss, our Hung Hom factory has actually reached a production bottleneck."
"With the booming development of the real estate industry, market demand is increasing rapidly."
"Especially after expanding into overseas markets, even if we produce nonstop for 24 hours, our output is still somewhat insufficient."
"Do you think we could acquire Huafeng Cement Factory?"
As Burton spoke, his eyes suddenly lit up.
"That factory belongs to me."
However, Lin Haoran smiled and said.
"Ah? Boss, Huafeng Cement Factory is yours?"
Burton was surprised.
"Yes. That cement factory originally belonged to my father, Lin Wan’an. Later, he gave it to me."
"However, I have not really managed it."
Lin Haoran nodded.
Indeed, he had barely paid attention to it.
After traveling back in time, he had left Huafeng Cement Factory very early.
He had not paid much attention to its current situation.
After all, earning only eighty to one hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars per month was no longer something that interested him.
Not only that, the various licenses of Huafeng Cement Factory were currently mortgaged to Yumin Finance Company.
"Boss, then why not let Qingzhou Yingni purchase Huafeng Cement Factory?"
Burton’s eyes brightened.
Since it was the boss’s private company, things would be much easier.
"Not yet. Wait until the middle of next year."
"At that time, I will merge Huafeng Cement Factory into Qingzhou Yingni Company."
Currently, because Huafeng Cement Factory was being used as collateral, he could not merge it even if he wanted to.
This was also part of a strategy he had already planned.
The Qingzhou Yingni factory would eventually need to relocate.
With Huafeng Cement Factory as a backup plant, the relocation would be worry-free.
Although Huafeng Cement Factory had more than 30,000 square meters of land, the actual utilized area was less than half.
There was still a lot of room to expand production.
Furthermore, once the production technology was improved, not only would cement quality become better, but production speed would also increase.
After all, Qingzhou Yingni’s nearly hundred years of accumulated experience was something Huafeng Cement Factory could never compare with.
Burton nodded.
Next year was fine.
After all, Qingzhou Yingni was not urgently in need of another branch factory right now.
Once the Manila factory started production, the pressure on the Hung Hom factory would decrease significantly.
Therefore, the acquisition of Huafeng Cement Factory was not urgent.
"There is another matter I need to report to you."
As he spoke, Burton handed another document to Lin Haoran.
This was a commercial rental report.
Besides the factory area, Qingzhou Yingni Company’s headquarters also had three commercial buildings.
In front of the buildings was the busy cement factory area.
Behind the buildings, however, was the prosperous Hung Hom commercial district.
Because it had an airport nearby, Hung Hom had excellent geographical advantages.
However, in terms of commercial development, it had once lagged behind places like Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok.
But in recent years, with Hong Kong’s rapidly increasing population, the commercial atmosphere in Hung Hom had gradually become stronger.
Moreover, although Qingzhou Yingni Company was located in Hung Hom, it was actually very close to Tsim Sha Tsui.
The distance to Tsim Sha Tsui was even shorter than the distance to Kai Tak Airport.
Because of this, the occupancy rates of Castle Peak Building and Tsing Tao Building were quite good.
Over the past few years, these two buildings had generated more than 2 million Hong Kong dollars in annual rental income for Qingzhou Yingni Company.
Lin Haoran carefully reviewed the documents.
His eyebrows slightly frowned.
Then he looked up and asked:
"Is there a problem here? It looks pretty good to me."
"Boss, naturally there is a problem."
"A building of twenty or thirty floors in Tsim Sha Tsui can sell for billions of Hong Kong dollars."
"Our Castle Peak Building and Tsing Tao Building are only more than ten floors each, but their true value is still enormous."
"Yet one building only generates a little over one million Hong Kong dollars in profit each year."
"I think this income is far too low."
"Although rental prices around Hung Hom are about the same, and we are not renting cheaper than surrounding properties, I hope these buildings can create more value."
"So I came up with another development plan. Boss, please take a look."
Burton handed Lin Haoran another document.
"Qingzhou, Castle Peak, and Tsing Tao Ground Floor Commercial Renovation Plan?"
Lin Haoran looked at the proposal Burton handed him with surprise.
"That’s right, Boss."
"I believe that as times develop and Qingzhou Yingni grows larger, we should begin exploring the path of diversified development."
"Just like renting out these two buildings—this is already a form of diversification, but the business is only simple property management."
"Across from our three buildings, many businesses have already developed."
"The nearby On Lok Road has even established a pedestrian shopping street."
"So the commercial atmosphere in this area is already very strong."
"Since Hung Hom’s commercial sector is developing, why don’t we follow the trend and convert the ground floors of these three buildings into commercial spaces?"
"Just like street shops in other commercial buildings."
"Stores of only twenty to thirty square meters can rent for several thousand Hong Kong dollars per month."
"But our office rentals require one or two hundred square meters and only generate several thousand Hong Kong dollars per month."
"The difference is huge."
"Currently, the first floors of Castle Peak Building and Tsing Tao Building are only rented out as simple restaurants."
"The second and third floors have very low occupancy because few people like working in low-floor offices."
"As for the bottom three floors of Qingzhou Building, they are basically unused."
"Therefore, I suggest renovating these three buildings."
"We can build connecting walkways between the buildings and transform them into a commercial model similar to Ladies’ Market."
"The combined area of the bottom three floors of these three buildings exceeds 100,000 square feet."
"This would allow us to create many shops."
"Once we successfully attract businesses, our rental income could increase several times!"
Burton explained his idea.
(End of Chapter)
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