Reborn in America, I'm serious about making money.

The economy is growing rapidly, and people's faces are filled with happy smiles. However, Zhang San does not like this rapid growth. In his previous life, he saw rapid growth and many people living a life of extravagance and debauchery, which made him feel somewhat anxious.

His anxiety wasn't about envying or being jealous of others, but rather a form of self-denial.

Back then, after graduating from university, other classmates all got good jobs. Some became public servants and even became junior leaders, while others were promoted and made a fortune in foreign companies.

He remained unknown and felt that he had wasted his life. Therefore, he had a feeling that he was useless and a waste.

Zhang San, reborn and transported from another time, looked down upon the entire city of Hong Kong. The bustling crowds and the decadent lifestyle seemed unreal. This kind of prosperity seemed to have used up the income of several years, decades, or even hundreds of years all at once, and everyone was enjoying life.

"What happened down there? I've seen you standing here for ten minutes." "Amy, the personal secretary, has a position in Zhang San's office."

Compared to all of Zhang San's women, Amy, who seems to have been picked up from the street, is relatively simple-minded. She has a clear understanding of her role as a lover and a personal secretary, and she is very responsible in doing so.

Of course, she didn't know that Zhang San had played a part in her parents' situation, but it didn't matter; Zhang San wouldn't tell her, and she had long since forgotten about it.

"Nothing much, I was just looking at the people on the street below, they looked like ants. Hehe..."

Amy smiled and said, "To be able to stand in your position, you must be one of the top figures here." She thought for a moment and then said, "This place is like the clouds. Looking down from the clouds, only gods or giants can do that; but it's not far off. Standing so high up, you must be a god."

"No, you can't use the word 'god' to describe a person. I'm not worthy. A giant would be better. Who told me to be rich? Wealth and status put me on a pedestal. Heh..."

Zhang San's words also made Amy behind him laugh. Yes, wealth and status can make a person appear surrounded by various halos.

As a financial speculator, one naturally has many things to do. Zhang San turned back to his seat, looking thoughtfully at the documents on the table.

He understood that although he now possessed enormous wealth and status, it was all built on risks and opportunities.

The financial market is unpredictable, and a single misstep can lead to the loss of everything. He is therefore more cautious in every decision he makes, while also maintaining a clear understanding of human nature.

After all, in this bustling city, money and power can easily make people lose themselves.

Since the Fed entered its interest rate hike cycle, it has adopted a slow and gradual approach, like boiling a frog in lukewarm water. Many people are still unaware of what this slow rate hike means, but it doesn't matter, Zhang San has already started implementing it.

At the Lihua Group meeting, Zhang San attended under the title of Senior Advisor.

"Starting in 2005, we will sell some properties to recoup funds for other investments. We will prioritize properties in the surrounding areas and then expand to Hong Kong. This will optimize our investments and reduce our debt with the recouped funds. We have borrowed approximately HK$30 billion from overseas banks, and all of this will be repaid with the proceeds from these properties."

"We will reinvest the surplus cash, and will set up a dedicated investment department to do so..."

"Investment in mainland China is also contracting now. After we sell those residential buildings, the proceeds, after repaying the loans, will go into the mainland stock market..."

Lihua Group's investment strategy is very clear. In recent years, Lihua Hotels has been building five-star hotels around the world, especially in mainland China, where the revenue of its budget hotel chain has grown very rapidly. There are already 500 budget hotels in mainland China, especially in tourist cities where they have the most.

The business is growing rapidly, and these hotels are self-owned properties.

The market value of Lihua Group has reached HK$600 billion and is growing slowly. During the Asian financial crisis in 1998, it bought a lot of properties. From 1998 to 2003, the pace of property purchases slowed down. This investment alone reached HK$60 billion, half of which was borrowed from overseas banks.

Now that the debt repayment cycle has begun, Lihua Group is naturally happy to see it, otherwise the nearly HK$2 billion in interest expenses every year would be very distressing.

Even though interest rates are very cheap now, they don't want to; it's too painful.

However, this was a decision made by the board of directors. Since the increase in housing prices exceeded the interest payments, there was naturally no problem. Now that it was finally time to clear the debt, they were naturally very happy.

How much are these HK$60 billion investment properties worth now? Internal financial estimates put them at around HK$200 billion, and they are expected to be even higher when they start selling in 2005.

Lihua Group issued an announcement stating that, in order to reduce interest expenses, alleviate the Group's burden, and increase revenue, the Group will sell some properties to repay some long-term debts...

The stock price actually fell slightly after the announcement.

This is different from what investors expected. They believed that property prices would continue to rise, and this sale of property has some negative factors involved. The main reason is that they believe that property is a high-quality asset, and this sale feels like selling off one's family property without any remorse.

If the Lihua Group, with a market capitalization of HK$600 billion, were to raise funds, such as through a rights issue of 10 shares for every 10 shares issued, that would amount to HK$60 billion. Alternatively, if it were to raise funds by issuing new shares, it would likely be beyond the capacity of current Hong Kong investors.

It would be better to sell the property. As for other reasons, they naturally won't be disclosed to the public.

This can also be seen from some comments on the Internet, where investors have various interpretations of this behavior. They believe that this should be a bad move by the board of directors.

"The board members are too short-sighted. Property prices are rising too fast, and instead of thinking about acquiring more properties, they're selling them. I really don't understand what they're thinking."

"Perhaps after selling the property and paying off the debt, we can reduce our annual interest expenses by two billion."

"They have loans totaling tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars. How many properties do they need to sell?"

"You probably don't know this, but before the Asian financial crisis, the Lihua Hotel raised tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars and then took out another 30 billion in loans. During the financial crisis, it started buying up stocks at rock-bottom prices."

"I know them. They invested in a lot of residential properties. I sold one of my properties back then. Those buyers from the Lihua Group would buy any property that was similar in quality. You could say... tsk tsk... they were really crazy back then..."

Some things, once exposed online, reveal all their secrets...