A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 267 A Year of Harvest

The First Sugar Refinery of Guangdong Province finally allocated the funds for the "second dividend", and the "Jiangsu and Zhejiang Consortium" also received another dividend of 150 million yuan.

The Jiangsu-Zhejiang consortium invested a total of 1930 million in the second half of 200, and by then (early 1933) it had received 300 million, not only making back its investment but also earning 100 million.

Of course, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang consortium could not be satisfied with this return, so they gathered together again for a meeting.

Fang Jiaobo presided over the meeting and said, "Everyone knows that the Guangdong Sugar Refinery was built with the plans and technology provided by our Jiangsu and Zhejiang consortium. Everyone also knows that the profits from sugar production in Guangdong are very high. Therefore, we must ensure that the First Sugar Refinery continues to distribute dividends in the second half of the year!"

All six sugar factories in Guangdong Province have been built, and four of them have been fully operational since last year.

Today, the six sugar factories can conservatively produce 20 tons of sugar a year, with an output value of more than million yuan and a profit of more than million yuan.

To be honest, the Nanjing side is also very jealous and will probably be stingy with Chen Jitang's military expenses.

Yu Qiaqing said, "I heard that Guangdong Province is very reluctant to distribute dividends. Will this student's dividend be blocked or withheld? After all, Guangdong's sugar industry has developed, and even the sales channels in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai have been fully opened. We no longer need our Jiangnan Consortium."

Starting from the second half of last year, Guangdong Province's white sugar was fully rolled out to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, almost driving Yangtang out of the Shanghai market.

This is inseparable from the support of local people. After all, we are all compatriots. When the quality and price are similar, everyone chooses to purchase and sell white sugar from Guangdong Province.

Yu Qiaqing's words also caused everyone to reflect. Kong Xiangxi's representative steward also said: "Moreover, Guangdong Province must be dissatisfied with the establishment of the new sugar factory in Shanghai. Chen Jitang is a warlord and may not be willing to share the profits honestly in the future."

Sugar mills in Shanghai have already started installing equipment, and are moving very quickly. It is estimated that they will be able to produce a wave of sugar in March and April. (May to August is generally a lull period, but they can choose to start supporting alcohol plants.)

Fang Jiaobo then fully informed everyone of the true situation, saying, "Indeed, they are never forthcoming with dividends, and they have expressed interest in purchasing our shares."

Hearing this, Chen Guangliang said with an impulsive tone, "If you hesitate when you should make a decision, you will suffer from the consequences. My suggestion is to sell the shares to the Guangdong Provincial Construction Department. With the cash flow in the account, they can offer a reasonable price."

It must be at least 200 million. In this way, it is equivalent to investing 200 million and getting a return of 500 million. Such profits are worthy of this lucrative industry.

Afterwards, everyone agreed and again recommended Fang Jiaobo to go to Guangdong Province for negotiations.

Only by taking advantage of the fact that Guangdong Province's sugar has just gained a foothold in the Shanghai market and exerting pressure from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang financial groups can it be sold at a reasonable price.

But overall, everyone is very happy that this investment can have such a high return.

Take Chen Guangliang for example. He invested a total of 100 million. If he sold the properties successfully, he would have made at least 100 million, and he expected to make 150 million. However, the investment period was less than three years.

The rate of return is already quite high!
Of course, Chen Guangliang made an absolute contribution to this industry itself, allowing China's sugar industry to achieve "a certain degree of autonomy" three years ahead of schedule.

In the previous life, this year, China's sugar industry had just proposed a plan.

Now, Guangdong Province is ready to plant sugarcane on a large scale for the second year (the third year of variety selection), and this autumn the province will be self-sufficient in more than half of its sugarcane.

the other side.

Chen Guangliang received another 75 yuan, which brought his "dollar deposits" in Ping An Bank to over 200 million yuan (110 million yuan in deposits plus 30 yuan in Times Pictures shares cashed out). This does not include the fact that his four major companies had not yet started distributing dividends last year!

January 1th, the end of the year is approaching.

The three major shareholders of Shangri-La Hotel happily attended his high-level meeting.

In the Shangri-La management team, Fang Jiaobo is the chairman, Chen Guangliang is the general manager, Gao Zhichao is the hotel manager, and Li Xinli is the hotel manager.
Currently, Chen Guangliang also serves as general manager of the following companies: Changjiang Real Estate, Shangri-La Hotel, Global Shipping, and Ping An Bank.

He is no longer the general manager of companies such as Changjiang Taxi, Vitasoy, and Changjiang Car Dealership.

Among them, Changjiang Real Estate basically has no new real estate projects, so Chen Guangliang's energy is mainly concentrated on Shangri-La Hotel, Global Shipping and Ping An Bank.

In the conference room.

He Shengqin, the finance manager, reported, "So, last year, the Shangri-La Hotel's profit was 50.15 yuan, of which the hotel department contributed 28.6 yuan. Currently, the Shangri-La Hotel has 67.25 yuan in working capital."

What a fruitful year!

The three major shareholders all showed their delight. An annual profit of 50 yuan is simply a "treasure pot".

Chen Guangliang said with satisfaction, "Last year, the Shangri-La Hotel's business was indeed very good. The hotel department had an occupancy rate of just over 90%, and the restaurant department has also been very popular."

Especially during the January 10 Incident, the Shangri-La Hotel's rooms were practically full, with rooms priced between 30 and 168 yuan each (9 rooms in total) practically in short supply. After Japan withdrew, wealthy individuals from around the country flocked to Shanghai again, and the Shangri-La maintained an occupancy rate of over %.

According to this situation, it is expected that the business of Shangri-La Hotel will not be affected until the second half of next year when the International Hotel and Yangtze Hotel open.

Fang Jiaobo then said, "I heard that the annual profit of the Chinachem Hotel is only about 80 yuan. But in terms of floor area, the Chinachem Hotel is about 3.4 square feet, while the Shangri-La Hotel is 1.8 square feet. The difference between the two is almost double."

This means that the Shangri-La Hotel is more profitable than the Cathay Hotel.

Of course, the Cathay Hotel is more luxurious in every aspect, so the corresponding expenses are naturally higher.

On the other hand, Shangri-La Hotel is better at "culture", "marketing", "service", etc., and its hardware is definitely not as luxurious as that of Chinachem Hotel.

Of course, it also depends on who you compare the hardware with. The total investment of Shangri-La Hotel is about 200 million (the original Dahua Hotel and the surrounding 8 acres of land are equivalent to 100 million), which is also at a similar level as the hardware of the international hotels that are still under construction.

In terms of culture and marketing, the Shangri-La Hotel has clearly achieved perfection. The mere presence of "Shangri-La" evokes a yearning for the hotel. Furthermore, its high-end buffet, luxurious ballroom, afternoon tea, Western restaurant, and Western-style bar are all outstanding. Finally, the release of the song "Rose, Rose, I Love You" further establishes the Shangri-La Hotel as a "hotel icon" in Shanghai.

Next, Chen Guangliang said cheerfully, "Then let's distribute the dividends! Take out 50 yuan and distribute it to the three shareholders. In addition, all employees will receive double their salary for December last year."

Chen Guangliang had already signaled the idea of ​​double salary as early as late December last year, so all Shangri-La employees were very happy.

Many of the employees at the Shangri-La Hotel are middle school students. There are many waiters who know a little English, and there are even some who know French, Russian, etc.

The income level of waiters in high-end restaurants in this era is also quite high, reaching up to more than 50 oceans, which can easily support a family.

Gao Zhichao and others immediately expressed their gratitude. Later, Gao Zhichao explained, "This year's Spring Festival, the Nanjing government issued few systematic restrictions, so our New Year's Eve dinner is practically fully booked. The first-floor lobby, second-floor private dining rooms, and buffet are practically full. The third-floor Western restaurant and bar cater primarily to foreigners. While some Chinese people also book New Year's Eve dinner at the Western restaurant, we've reserved plenty of seats for them. The fourth-floor tea restaurant is also over 70% booked."

Last year, because of the January 28 Incident, no one celebrated the Spring Festival.

This year, the Shangri-La Hotel has launched a 'New Year's Eve dinner package', which was fully booked in ten days.

Some people even book their New Year's Eve dinner at the Western restaurant on the third floor and the tea restaurant on the fourth floor.

Chen Guangliang immediately said: "The end of the year is very busy, but everyone should not make mistakes. In addition, we must pay special attention to fire prevention and theft prevention. Everyone must remain vigilant."

"Ok"

This year, the Chen and Yan families also had their New Year’s Eve dinner in a private room at the Shangri-La Hotel.

Last year, Changjiang Real Estate contributed 30 yuan in profits, Shangri-La Hotel distributed 27.5 yuan in dividends, and Changjiang Taxi contributed 35 yuan in profits. These three companies alone brought Chen Guangliang a net profit of 92.5 yuan last year. (With no debt, he earns a lot.)
After depositing this money into his Ping An Bank account, his personal savings have reached more than 300 million.

Although Global Shipping made more money, it had been purchasing new ships, so it could not distribute any dividends; however, Global Shipping's total assets had indeed exceeded 300 million oceans, which was also a happy thing.

As for Vitasoy, Changjiang Motor Dealership, and joint ventures - Tongchang Motor Dealership Manufacturing Plant, Jierui Coal Briquettes, etc., they can bring Chen Guangliang hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits and dividends a year; but Chen Guangliang's annual charitable expenses are huge, plus family expenses, so it is almost enough to break even.

Sitting in the office of Ping An Bank Building.

Chen Guangliang is quite proud of one thing - that is, in this era, he has never done business at a loss!
This is hard to believe. After all, industrialists like Liu Hongsheng and Rong Zongjing can make a lot of money in a good year, but when the market is bad, even the entire group company will be shaky.

In contrast, Chen Guangliang's company is basically "debt-free" and has sufficient cash flow.

At the same time, he personally holds a large amount of cash flow and owns his own bank, which can be said to be multiple insurance.

Thinking carefully, Chen Guangliang discovered one thing - the good start of his career was that after making a lot of money from real estate and bidding, he was already in a state of "ample funds".

After all, he made his fortune in business through "speculation".

Thinking of 'speculation', Chen Guangliang was somewhat tempted - if silver prices rise, will the gold price 'fall'?

Because China is a "silver standard" country, the price of silver has risen sharply, and the price of gold is quoted in ocean dollars, so will the market price of gold fall?
Chen Guangliang thought hard about this question and found that he was not sure.

The gold-silver exchange rate may decline to a certain extent, but he has two questions:
First, will gold appreciate overseas and will that affect the Shanghai Stock Exchange? If both gold and silver appreciate, then the price of benchmark gold will not fall too much.

Second, silver is appreciating overseas. Generally, silver has to be smuggled to the United States or London to truly obtain its high value. If it is only on the land of China, the overall appreciation performance will not be too strong.

Currently, the price of silver in the United States is $1 per ounce, and it is expected to reach more than $0.25 in the future. However, the prerequisite is to smuggle silver into the United States in order to obtain the highest profit in the world.

In the past few years, China had the highest silver price in the world, so some foreigners brought silver to China for trading or investment. The Broadway Building was invested in such an external environment.

Chen Guangliang had two large sums of silver in his hands: 508 million taels and 800 million taels.

Among them, Chen Guangliang will later go to the United States to exchange 508 million taels of silver for US dollars to purchase US dollar assets and US dollar deposits as his own "trump card".

Among them, 800 million taels will be used to repay a debt of 180 million US dollars and related interest. He plans to invest the remaining silver in overseas markets such as Hong Kong and Sing Tao.

In fact, before 1945, Chen Guangliang could only transfer "hidden wealth" when transferring assets overseas.

Otherwise, he would not have been able to hide in the "capital" during the war, because there would be no place for an entrepreneur who did not support the war.

"Boss, it's time for the meeting!"

"Okay, I'll come right away"

After a while, Chen Guangliang walked into the conference room of Ping An Bank, and all the senior management were present.

Compared to when it was established more than a year ago, Ping An Bank is now stronger and has more than 170 employees.

Manager Xia Gaoxiang began by reporting, "By the end of last year, our deposits exceeded 1500 million, we invested 500 million in government bonds, and we issued 418 million in loans."

Assistant Manager Ye Ximing then added, "Last year, we earned 17.5 yuan from bidding. On government bond investments, we made a paper profit of over 50 yuan, with interest income of 18 yuan. On loan interest, we made a profit of 6.5 yuan last year."

In 1932, Ping An Bank made a profit of 6.5 oceans, which was very good. After all, it was the first year, and deposits continued to flow in, but loans had to be advanced cautiously.

Of course, this profit does not include the book profit of government bonds, because they have not been sold yet and cannot be included.

Ping An Bank started investing in government bonds in April last year, investing a total of 4 million yuan, but government bonds only saw a slight increase last year.

Not surprisingly, this year has been a year of big gains in government bonds.

Next, Chen Guangliang asked, "How is the Hong Kong inspection going?"

Ye Ximing said, "After a week-long investigation, we believe Hong Kong is a very suitable location for our second headquarters, as the environment there is similar to that of the concession. Our next step is to purchase land on Des Voeux Road or Queen's Road to build a bank building. Meanwhile, our first Hong Kong branch will be operational in the first half of this year."

Since the second half of last year, Ping An Bank has formulated a strategy for development in Hong Kong and has been advancing it in an orderly manner.

At first, people had great concerns about purchasing land and building bank buildings in Hong Kong:

First, the investment for a bank building in Hong Kong must be at least three or four hundred thousand dollars. How many years of profit has this generated for Ping An Bank?
Second, isn’t it unreasonable to invest so much at the beginning?
Of course, all of this needs to be arranged by Chen Guangliang personally through "force" so that everyone will have no objections.

Chen Guangliang's power does not come from his authority as a boss, but from the "backing" he provides to Ping An Bank. This is why everyone feels at ease.

"Okay, Hong Kong's development is the general direction and we cannot afford to lose it."

(End of this chapter)