Chapter 953: Undercurrents Swirl, Storms Are Brewing!

Star Investment Company—the meeting has just begun!

As the head of the company’s most critical Investment Department, Pang Feiyan’s capabilities were, of course, beyond question.

After standing up, she gathered her thoughts briefly, then spoke in a calm and measured tone: “Boss, following your instructions, our Investment Department has been bottom-fishing in listed industrial companies since late August. To date, we have purchased shares in 48 companies, with holdings ranging from a maximum of 27% to a minimum of 4%, totaling an investment of 5.2 billion Hong Kong dollars!”

“In addition, we have recently acquired four real estate projects mired in debt crises, two pharmaceutical companies on the brink of bankruptcy, and one hotel. These acquisitions cost 1.8 billion Hong Kong dollars, but revitalizing them will require at least another 600 million Hong Kong dollars in future investments…”

As the head of the Investment Management Department, Pang Feiyan’s report was exceptionally well-organized, and she didn’t need to refer to any documents to cite the figures—a clear indication that she had a thorough grasp of her team’s operations.

Li Yi nodded in satisfaction, then asked, “How many people are currently on your Investment Management Department?”

“187 people, with 88 holding stock trading permissions, and another 28 interns!” Pang Feiyan replied.

“We’re a bit short-staffed. You can hire a few more people as needed. And don’t limit yourselves to just stock market talent—you should also recruit people with experience in industrial management!” Li Yi advised.

“Yes, sir!”

Li Yi then turned his attention to Zhao Xinlan, the finance director sitting beside him, and said, “Director Zhao, please give us an overview of the company’s revenue for the first three quarters.”

“Yes!”

Zhao Xinlan immediately stood up and said, “In the first three quarters of this year, the company’s pre-tax revenue across all projects was 247.8 billion Hong Kong dollars, with expenses of 127.9 billion, resulting in a pre-tax profit of 119.9 billion Hong Kong dollars.”

“However, this does not include the company’s fixed asset investments. After all, the prices of fixed assets are fluctuating significantly right now, so it’s currently impossible to accurately assess their value.”

“Hmm, so how much cash does the company currently have on hand?”

With a battle against those scheming conglomerates looming, Li Yi had to know exactly how much capital he had at his disposal—only by knowing both himself and his enemy could he emerge victorious in every battle.

After all, in business wars, it often comes down to who has the most money.

Zhao Xinlan replied immediately: “Boss, there’s currently a total of 82.7 billion Hong Kong dollars in the company’s headquarters’ accounts. However, 67.2 billion of that is your personal dividend. Of the remaining 25.5 billion, 6.3 billion is accounts payable that must be paid to partner companies by the end of October, and another 1.7 billion is for corporate taxes. The only funds truly available for use are 7.5 billion—but…”

“But what? Go on,” Li Yi said.

“But we have two real estate projects nearing completion by year-end. We can recoup some funds by selling the units then—we expect to generate 3 billion Hong Kong dollars in revenue!”

Zhao Xinlan continued, “Furthermore, companies like Hang Seng and Huifeng will also distribute dividends to shareholders by year-end. We hold shares in these companies, so we’ll receive corresponding dividends as well—we expect no less than 1 billion Hong Kong dollars.”

Li Yi did some quick calculations in his head. By that logic, even if he included his own dividends and principal of over 60 billion, the company’s available funds still wouldn’t reach 80 billion Hong Kong dollars.

It sounded like a lot, but unfortunately, it was all in Hong Kong dollars. At the current exchange rate of 9.6 to 1, that amount was only a little over 8 billion US dollars.

For routine matters, this sum would be more than sufficient.

But this time, they were facing seven or eight major conglomerates, each a colossal powerhouse in their respective regions.

Combined, these conglomerates can raise funds beyond imagination—not just tens of billions of US dollars, but possibly even hundreds of billions.

With that in mind, Li Yi immediately said, “Don’t transfer that dividend into my personal account. Use this money as principal and transfer it all to the Dahai Private Equity Fund for the company’s future investments.”

“Yes!”

Li Yi then turned to Pang Feiyan and said in a firm voice, “Feiyan, have your Investment Management Department come up with a plan as soon as possible. Announce that our company will be investing in a new project before Christmas, and that interested investors are welcome to come to the office to sign contracts!”

Upon hearing this, everyone in the conference room’s eyes lit up.

The company has a new investment project—that’s fantastic.

Ever since last year, whenever the company launched a new investment project, it was guaranteed to turn a huge profit.

Never mind how much each of them would receive in bonuses and commissions—many had already made a fortune simply by following the company’s lead and investing.

So, it wasn’t just the people of Hong Kong Island hoping for Star Investment to launch a new project—everyone in the company, from top to bottom, was eagerly awaiting it!

“Boss, what about the investment cycle and the rate of return…”

Before Pang Feiyan could finish her sentence, Li Yi immediately replied, “The investment cycle is one year, with a conservative estimated return of 15%. There’s no upper limit, and if the actual return falls short of 15%, the company will make up the difference!”

At those words, everyone in the conference room couldn’t help but swallow hard.

This is a guaranteed 15% return—absolutely the first of its kind in Hong Kong.

One could only imagine the sensation this project would cause across Hong Kong once it was announced.

After all, the global economy was currently in a slump. Aside from a few major financial institutions and funds that could guarantee no losses, the rest of the companies had return on investment rates below 5%, and more than half were even operating at a loss.

Now, Star Investment was offering a 15% guaranteed return—an offer so tempting to investors it was practically a windfall.

“Is there a cap on the funds being raised this time?”

“No, there’s no upper limit!” Li Yi replied.

“Understood. We’ll finalize the proposal as soon as possible, but isn’t a 15% guaranteed return a bit too high?” asked Pang Feiyan.

“Is it high?”

“It’s extremely high. This will significantly increase our cost of capital. Once we raise over 100 billion, this fee alone will cost us 15 billion annually—the pressure is too great!” Pang Feiyan said.

Li Yi, however, replied calmly, “I know exactly what I’m doing. Just follow orders!”

“Yes!”

Li Yi didn’t yet know how much capital those consortiums could raise to challenge him, but he knew that having a little extra money on hand could never hurt.

As for the funding pressure caused by the 15% guaranteed return, Li Yi hadn’t even considered it—after all, once these investors signed the contracts, they would have to pay him a 5% fund management fee.

In other words, his actual cost of capital was only 10% of the principal.

And with his understanding of the economic conditions in various countries, whether investing in the stock market of the “Eagle” or the real estate market of the “Chicken,” he was sure to make a killing.

Furthermore, the Iron Lady was set to call an early election next year and easily win re-election, after which she would launch a final rescue effort for the British Empire’s economy, which was on the brink of collapse. Her prescription would be comprehensive privatization.

At that point, he could easily use this money to snap up assets across the British Empire at rock-bottom prices. Setting aside whether he’d run the businesses himself, even a quick resale could yield profits several times over.

If all else fails, you could funnel this money back to the mainland for infrastructure projects—whether building highways, hotels, or shopping malls—the return on investment would be no less than 30%.

So, in his eyes, this 15% guaranteed return was practically pocket change…

Subsequently, Li Yi listened to work reports from Lan Xinming, Ding Can, Li Yunbao, Yang Qian, and others.

After gaining a full understanding of the company’s situation, Li Yi immediately implemented sweeping adjustments to the company’s operations and halted several particularly aggressive and cost-intensive projects.

After all, in the coming days, they would have to fend off the onslaught from those major conglomerates.

Just as Li Yi was holding a meeting with the company’s management, news of his return to Hong Kong Island and his appearance at Star Tower spread like wildfire, quickly sweeping across the entire island.

In an instant, certain forces lurking in the shadows could no longer sit idly by, and the entire island was suddenly filled with undercurrents—a storm was brewing…

………..