บท 887: Chapter 887: Achievements and setbacks
'Chairman!'
'Chairman!'
Xia Yu had just walked out of the elevator when he heard a slightly surprised voice. Xia Yu looked in the direction of the voice and saw Yan Wenhan walking quickly towards him.
Not only that, but there was someone else by Yan Wenhan's side who surprised him greatly: it was Jiang Zhiqiang, the general manager of Universal Cinema Corporation.
'Zhiqiang, when did you come to the United States?'
Xia Yu first smiled and nodded at Yan Wenhan, then asked Jiang Zhiqiang with a smile.
He knew that Yan Wenhan had come to San Francisco because he had reported to him some time ago.
But he really didn't know that Jiang Zhiqiang had come to the United States.
Jiang Zhiqiang explained apologetically, 'Chairman, I came to the United States because of the distribution of a film. I knew that you were in the United States, but you have a million things to do every day, so I didn't want to bother you.'
Xia Yu smiled and understood Jiang Zhiqiang's mentality, casually asking, 'I haven't paid attention to movies for a long time, so how did it turn out?'
Jiang Zhiqiang's smile on his face froze, and he looked embarrassed.
Xia Yu's expression changed, realising that Jiang Zhiqiang must have run into trouble. This was not the right place to talk about things, and besides, it was getting late, so before Jiang Zhiqiang could say anything, Xia Yu said, 'It's getting late, let's go to my place first, and we can talk about other things later.'
Jiang Zhiqiang let out a sigh of relief and nodded repeatedly, saying, 'Okay.'
Then, the group walked out of the lobby and drove to Xia Yu's home in San Francisco.
After more than ten minutes, they finally arrived home.
After getting out of the car, Yan Wenhan and Jiang Zhiqiang couldn't help but marvel at Xia Yu's spacious mansion. Of course, it was unknown how much of this was flattery.
'Let's go, this isn't the company, so feel free to make yourselves at home. Help yourselves to whatever you want.'
'I'll go back to my room first.'
After saying that, Xia Yu left Yan Wenhan, Jiang Zhiqiang and Li Wuming behind and went up the stairs by himself.
After all, they were colleagues and the three of them were familiar with each other. Seeing that the chairman was not there, they felt more at ease and the three of them chatted in a low voice. Jiang Zhiqiang even brewed some tea in between conversations.
...
It was a quarter past one o'clock, and the well-fed and well-drunk group sat on the sofa again, drinking tea comfortably.
Xia Yu took a sip, set down the teacup, looked at Yan Wenhan, and asked, 'Wenhan, did the San Francisco Chronicle get it?'
Yan Wenhan immediately smiled and nodded, replying, 'It's already been acquired. The agreement was signed yesterday morning, and we're now working on the takeover.'
'But this morning, we came directly from the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper office, and the agreement is still at the hotel, we didn't bring it with us.'
Xia Yu nodded slightly in appreciation, saying, 'Never mind, as long as the acquisition is complete. With this newspaper, Jiuding Newspaper Company can be considered a flag in the western United States.'
Yan Wenhan smiled and said, 'Yes, the San Francisco Chronicle is the second most popular newspaper on the west coast of the United States after the Los Angeles Times. It ranks 12th in the country in terms of sales. This newspaper is not controlled by a large consortium, so it has been suppressed by the Los Angeles Times, which is why we have the opportunity to acquire it.'
'The San Francisco Chronicle was formed in 1965 by the merger of the former San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner. It is now the only daily newspaper in San Francisco, and with it, Jinding Newspaper Company can gain a firm foothold in San Francisco.'
'It's just that if you zoom out to the entire West Coast, there is still a considerable gap between it and those major newspaper groups. USA Today has already radiated to the West Coast, but there is still some way to go. So I plan to use San Francisco as the centre and acquire some newspapers in the surrounding states and cities, so that the influence of the Great Jiu Ding Newspaper Company can expand and coalesce.'
Xia Yu commented: 'This is the right idea. Just go ahead with your plan. As long as you don't get into trouble, seize the opportunity to expand in the next few years. Don't limit yourself to print media, you can also buy local TV stations and radio stations. Funding is not a problem.'
Xia Yu knew that before 1983, the media industry in the United States was still relatively fragmented. Although many large newspaper groups had already emerged, they were not particularly powerful.
After News Corporation took shape, and under the stimulus of Rupert Murdoch, major newspaper groups were forced to develop rapidly. Consortia increased their control over the media, and everything related to the media, from television stations to newspapers, gradually came together. At that time, it would be much more difficult to hunt.
Once it is in the hands of a large consortium, it is not so easy to spit it out.
Xia Yu's support and recognition made Yan Wenhan feel at ease. He smiled broadly, nodded emphatically, and said, 'Yes, Chairman, I will make a detailed plan to allow the company to expand steadily.'
Xia Yu nodded slightly and said no more, his gaze shifting to Jiang Zhiqiang, who had remained silent. The latter immediately sat up straight.
Xia Yu asked gently, 'Zhiqiang, tell me about the current situation of the company.'
He thought the chairman would ask him about the trouble he encountered in the United States, but instead he was asked about the current situation of the company. He froze for a moment, pondered for a long time to get his thoughts in order, and then spoke eloquently:
'Chairman, after a series of acquisitions, the company currently owns 208 cinemas, including 30 in Hong Kong and Macau, 162 in Southeast Asia, and 16 in the islands.
'In addition, there are 98 cinemas in Asia that have joined our Universal Cinema Circuit.
'Our company's distribution network has reached 306 cinemas!
'Currently, whether in Hong Kong or Southeast Asia, our Universal Cinema Circuit is ranked first in the industry, and the distribution network of Shaw Circuit, which is ranked second, is still just over 200 cinemas.
'And because we have adopted a profit-sharing system, we are unanimously supported by film manufacturers. Shaw Theatres is simply no match for us. However, Shaw Theatres is already seeking change and is learning from us to transform cinemas into multiplexes. But unlike us, it does not have the strong support of the Jinding Infrastructure Company, so the transformation is slow.'
'Due to the problem of film sources, Shaw Theatres has already fallen into the red.'
'Therefore, our company's leading position in Asia is relatively stable.'
'In terms of revenue, the company's total revenue in the first half of 1980 exceeded 100 million Hong Kong dollars, of which Chinese films accounted for 74% and foreign films accounted for 26%...'
Xia Yu listened quietly. On the whole, these figures satisfied him. 100 million Hong Kong dollars in revenue may seem low, but when combined with the total film market in Southeast Asia and East Asia, it was already quite impressive. If this trend continued, the annual revenue could reach 200 million Hong Kong dollars.
At this time, the annual box office of local Hong Kong movies was only 200 million Hong Kong dollars.
With an annual revenue of 200 million Hong Kong dollars, according to the high net profit margin of cinemas, coupled with the heavy asset operation of Universal Cinemas, which operates its own cinemas without the pressure of rents, a net profit of 50 to 60 million Hong Kong dollars is definitely possible. The capital market valuation can reach 500 million Hong Kong dollars, which is enough to squeeze into the top 80 Hong Kong enterprises.
'The pace of development is fast, you have done a good job and have not disappointed me,'
After Jiang Zhiquiang finished his story, Xia Yu said with satisfaction, 'The pace of development is fast, and you've done a good job, you haven't disappointed me.'
Jiang Zhiquiang kept on being humble.
But because of the good results, Xia Yu was curious about what difficulties Jiang Zhiquiang had encountered.
So he changed the subject suddenly and asked, 'Zhiquiang, have you encountered any difficulties this time you came to the United States?'
Jiang Zhiqiang's smile froze, and he pursed his lips and sighed, 'Yes, we failed to open up the American market. From mid-July to the end of August this year, Galaxy Movies released a movie that was a huge hit in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, so Wu Siyuan and I had high hopes that we could open up the American market with one big push.'
'So at the end of August, I personally brought that movie to the United States, but I didn't expect it to flop.'
Jiang Zhiqiang's face turned pale as he spoke, and he felt extremely unwilling and frustrated.
The movie was really very good, but because someone had interfered, the results had plummeted. He felt so frustrated at the way he had lost, and he could not accept it.
But this was someone else's territory, and the Universal Cinema was far less powerful than others. The enemy was determined not to make any money, and they were determined to suppress him.
But today, he met Yan Wenhan and was told that Chairman Xia Yu was coming to San Francisco. After much hesitation, he followed Yan Wenhan here, hoping that the chairman would take charge.
After all, he knows his own limitations. Without the chairman's support, even with the strength and development speed of the Universal Cinema, he doesn't know when he can break into the American market.
But if the chairman is willing to take charge, then...
Thinking about this, Jiang Zhiqiang looked up at Xia Yu, his eyes faintly showing a mixture of hope and trepidation.
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