Author: Ren Zhufei

Hong Kong Association.

Old Madden was hosting a banquet for HSBC Vice Chairman John Pao. He had always been wary of Lin Zhichao's rise. Thinking of the 'bet' between the two, he had a mentality of paying attention to the growth of global shipping.

Recently, he has received some information, all of which say that Global Shipping has become the leader of Chinese shipping companies, and Lin Zhichao has surpassed Xu Aizhou to become the Chinese "new shipping king".

This shocked him very much!

It is obviously unimaginable that a person who has been in the shipping business for less than two years has developed to the size of Hui Aizhou's fleet. It can also be inferred that if this trend continues, Global Shipping will surpass Wheelock Shipping.

very likely to be.

Is he going to lose?

Of course Old Madden was not willing to give in.

Lin Zhichao once stood in front of him, and he looked at Lin Zhichao with the same eyes as a beggar. How could he now admit that the beggar would surpass him, or be on an equal footing with him!

Through a general understanding, Old Madden knew that Lin Zhichao had a backend at HSBC, that is, Sandus, the deputy manager of import and export, and had obtained a loan from HSBC.

For a moment, Old Madden just wanted to ask, 'Why?'

So he invited John Bao, a senior executive of HSBC whom he knew, to understand the matter and make plans.

"Vice Chairman John Bao, Deputy Manager of HSBC Sandus, can you decide on the loan?" Old Madden asked.

John Bao looked at Old Madden and said formally: "He is the deputy manager of import and export. He is mainly responsible for bill advance and other business. Loan matters are the matter of the project department. Of course, things may not be absolute."

Although he knew that Sandus was already the manager of the Mainland Project Department, he naturally would not reveal the information to outsiders. This was an internal secret. What's more, he and Old Madden were only casual acquaintances, so why should he tell him these things so as to curry favor in advance?

Sandus?

Old Madden immediately said: "So, Deputy Manager Sandus cannot decide to provide loans to the shipping industry?"

John Bao looked at Old Madden questioningly, thinking to himself, you are not mistaken!

"Mr. Madden, there are too many mistakes in your sentence. First, Sandus is an importer and exporter and is not responsible for loans; second, HSBC will not lend money to the shipping industry. This is a black book in the industry."

Old Madden smiled and then said: "I actually know this too. But I heard that HSBC loaned a large amount to Global Shipping, which is a Chinese shipping company. That's why I came to you for consultation. If possible,

We also hope to obtain a loan from HSBC."

John Bao suddenly froze, and then said: "This is impossible! I need to find out, but HSBC will not give a loan to your shipping company, at least I will not agree."

Old Madden smiled and said: "That's strange, why the Chinese can get it but I can't. Is HSBC a bank run by Chinese?"

John Bao said unhappily: "Mr. Madden, our bank only looks at risk and nothing else. As for what you said, I'll find out more about it later!"

Old Madden immediately ignored it and started talking to John Bao about other things. He knew that no matter what the outcome of the matter, he could at least find out through John Bao whether Lin Zhichao had received support from HSBC. If HSBC checked the accounts, even

This loan can be questioned. Not only will global shipping be in trouble, but Lin Zhichao's backer, Sandus, may also be in trouble.

He and Lin Zhichao have not clashed once or twice. This time he must win!

At the high-level meeting of HSBC, John Bao took the opportunity to ask: "Manager Charlie, does your project department have a shipping loan of US$300, and the borrower is still Chinese?"

For a time, many HSBC senior executives looked at Charlie, the project manager, in surprise, asking for explanations.

Charlie had a guilty conscience about this loan, and he would not have agreed to it if it had not been for Sandus' guarantee.

So, he quickly carried out Sandus.

"That's it! The boss of Global Shipping is a Chinese named Lin Zhichao. I believe everyone has heard of it. He is the boss of Yangtze Real Estate and Cheung Kong Industries. He is a young man with great potential. And his Global Shipping is from HSBC.

Before the loan, we already owned four 10,000-ton cargo ships and had no debt."

"Of course, this situation is not enough for me to decide to lend him a loan. The real reasons are: First, he leased three ships to a Japanese shipping company for a five-year lease, and he can get 3 million US dollars in each of the first three years.

With the rent, theoretically the profit can reach about 2 million US dollars a year."

"Second, he obtained a letter of credit from the Bank of Japan, and the Bank of Japan guaranteed that the contract was guaranteed."

"Third, this loan was discovered by Sandus, who also guaranteed and facilitated it. When Lin Zhichao first entered the shipping industry, Sandus gave him enough praise and said that his business was stable."

After Charlie finished speaking, a group of senior executives looked at each other and talked about it. Obviously, the loans from the shipping industry surprised them very much.

John Bao asked again: "Shipping is called a 'black book' by banks because the sea is ruthless. No matter how stable you say it is, it may be swallowed by the sea."

His remarks were supported by some people, so everyone criticized Charlie for not granting this loan.

Charlie was immediately upset!

Fortunately, half of the senior management did not say anything. They were thinking about the reliability of this loan.

Finally, it was HSBC Chairman Douglas who said: "Go and see if Manager Sandus is in the company and ask him to come."

"Okay, Mr. Chairman."

After a while, Sandus walked into the conference room, then sat next to Saipan, the import and export manager, and attended the meeting.

Douglas then said: "Manager Sandus, please tell me what is the situation of Global Shipping and why is it worth risking your future to guarantee and support it?"

Sandus nodded. He had already appointed a project manager. In the eyes of senior management, he still had this status.

Later, he confessed and analyzed the situation of Global Shipping one by one, and made no secret of his admiration for Lin Zhichao's management methods. Soon, the HSBC conference room was silent.

"Today, Global Shipping has a load capacity of 128,000 tons, and a total of 12 large ships of about 10,000 tons. They have 10 captains leased to Japan's two major shipping companies - Yamaguchi Steamship and Nippon Steamship. Only these 10 ships each

The monthly rent is as high as about US$750,000. So there is no problem in repaying the loan, not to mention the letter of credit issued by the Bank of Japan, and the risk is shared by the Bank of Japan, Kobe."

In the conference room, everyone was impressed by the strength and steady development of Global Shipping, and there were few objections.

At this time, John Bao was the one who proposed it, so he naturally wanted to deal with the aftermath.

So, he said: "Since it has become a fact, the accounting department should be sent to audit Global Shipping's finances to determine its risks and then discuss it in the company."

What he said was very procedural, and it didn't give people the feeling of looking for trouble.

Douglas nodded and said: "It should be so! To be honest, I am very interested in global shipping. If the risk is really low, then this global shipping is worthy of our support. After all, as far as I know, other ship owners are There is no such long-term rental operation, and because of this, they cannot be trusted by banks."

A senior executive said: "No matter what, shipping is still a black book of banks, and we must treat it with caution in the future."

His views were immediately agreed upon by most senior executives, including Douglas and John Bowen.

The next day, Lin Zhichao received the audit team of HSBC Bank and handed over all the account books to them.

If shipping wants to develop, it must be supported by banks. In the previous life, the chartering king had the support of HSBC, Dong Haoyun had the support of the United States and Taiwan, and Zhao Congyan and Cao Wenjin also had the support of the Bank of Japan and shipyards.

Otherwise, if you want to develop shipping with your own funds, it will undoubtedly be a small effort.

The audit team was led by John Bao, Vice Chairman of HSBC Bank. Lin Zhichao didn't know it yet, but John Bao was involved in all of this. Fortunately, John Bao was just doing business and had nothing to do to make things difficult for Lin Zhichao.

What's more, the audit team was stunned!

Even John Bao was shocked and said: "Mr. Lin, your profits in February and March reached more than 700,000 US dollars?"

Lin Zhichao nodded and said, "That's right! Although we signed a long-term contract, the price is very high because the market is very good."

In fact, Lin Zhichao discovered a problem. When shipping prices rise, the corresponding cost rate also decreases greatly. Because the costs are mainly fuel, maintenance, ports, labor, etc., these do not fluctuate much.

The monthly rent for a 36,000-ton cargo ship is about US$250,000, but the monthly expense is only US$50,000, so the gross profit is US$200,000.

Of course, this gross profit is not the final profit. Some major repairs or accidents may occur during the process, and part of it will be deducted. However, as long as it is managed properly, renting three or four boats (a group) for a year of 3 million US dollars, Lin Zhichao feels The profit of 2 million to 2.4 million US dollars is still about the same, that is, the return on capital (second-hand ship) is one year. This is a return rate that can only be achieved in several years when the market is very good.

Later, John Bao said: "Your debt is 4.7 million U.S. dollars, plus one or two years of interest of 900,000 U.S. dollars, which is almost 5.6 million U.S. dollars. So theoretically, you can repay it in eight months. It is incredible. Got it!"

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: “I wonder what Chairman John Bao’s assessment of Global Shipping is?”

John Bao responded with a smile: "This needs to be discussed by the senior management of HSBC, but I am very optimistic about it. Of course, it is limited to your current loan situation."

He still had reservations and was cautious about shipping loans, so he kept things official.

Lin Zhichao nodded, as long as he had no objection to himself.

The US$3 million loan HSBC loaned him was repaid in two years, with an interest rate of 12% per year, which is almost US$700,000 in interest. The US$2 million in installments was paid in one-year installments, and the interest was approximately US$200,000. arrive.

In fact, if the rent for September is collected, it can be paid off in full.

Of course, this is just a theory. Whether the bank loan is due or not, why pay it back in advance?

Therefore, probably in the second half of the year, Lin Zhichao will be ready to consider expanding the fleet.

The audit team made a work report to the senior management of HSBC Bank, and Sandus also attended this high-level meeting.

Undoubtedly, the audit team's report is very beneficial to Global Shipping.

For a while, the senior executives of HSBC began to ponder. This was different from the shipping industry they had imagined.

Douglas nodded, and then said to Sandus: "Manager Sandus, tell me how you were persuaded by that young man?"

Sandus nodded, he knew that this was his capital, as long as he passed the test today.

"This young man has fully studied the psychology of bankers. He believes that our fear of shipping comes from risks. So he chose long-term leasing, so that we bankers can see stability. This alone is

Other shipping companies have advantages that they don’t have.”

Everyone nodded, it was indeed true.

Douglas said: "Everyone looks at the high returns in front of them, so how can they make long-term plans? As everyone knows, you can also make a lot of money in the long term, and you can also close the shipping window."

Then, Sandus added: "Secondly, I don't know how he convinced Japanese merchants and banks to issue the letter of credit from Kobe Bank. But this letter of credit is undoubtedly very critical, so I decided to convince Charlie for him.

manager."
To be continued...