Chapter 130: 18.6% of the Shares
However, Xia Yu preferred to keep his wealth quiet and would not disclose financial reports. After all, Jiuding Media was not a publicly listed company, and there was no need to release financial reports. It also had no plans to go public in the future; it was enough for him to know about it himself.
Public exposure would only breed resentment, especially since this advertising revenue was taken from competitors!
The print media advertising market is limited each year, like a large cake. The more the "Jiuding Daily" takes, the less other newspapers and magazines get!
It is likely that other newspapers are already struggling now, given that so many advertisers have switched to Jiuding Media. Xia Yu had no need to invite further hostility.
In reality, 137 million HKD seemed like a lot, but it was within the context of Hong Kong.
This year, the official exchange rate was about 1 USD to 4.5 HKD, so 137 million HKD converted to USD was approximately 30 million USD.
Among this, the ideal advertising revenue for "Jiuding Daily" and the "Economic" magazine converted to USD were 9.55 million USD and less than 21 million USD, respectively.
However, in the US, with a circulation of 800,000, "Jiuding Daily" would not make it into the top ten. It would struggle to even enter the top twenty. Yet, newspapers with similar circulation have advertising revenues exceeding 20 million USD annually, double that of "Jiuding Daily"!
Similarly, the "Economic" magazine, with a circulation of 680,000, also wouldn't make the top ten in the US, but magazines with similar circulation have annual advertising revenues of at least 70 million USD, much higher than 30 million USD!
So, this comparison shows that the advertising value of "Jiuding Daily" and the "Economic" magazine was actually underestimated! But this was unavoidable, as the economic levels in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong were far lower than those in Europe and America!
Even though "Jiuding Daily" and the "Economic" magazine dominate Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, they still don't make the top ten in the highly developed media markets of the US. This is determined by regional economic conditions, and Xia Yu couldn't do anything about it!
Reflecting on domestic magazines in later years that had less than a million copies in circulation but still made five to six hundred million in advertising revenue in 2009, Xia Yu silently told himself that "Jiuding Daily" and the "Economic" magazine still had a long way to go!
Their prominence was due to the relatively smaller market in Hong Kong, but on a global scale, they were still not very conspicuous.
The world is vast!
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This time, "Jiuding Daily" sold a month's worth of advertising, and the "Economic" magazine sold a week's worth, generating a total income of 5.4 million HKD, which had all been deposited into the company's account.
Additionally, "The Search for the Qin Dynasty" sold one million copies, bringing the total sales to 6.3 million. After deducting costs and expenses for procurement and printing equipment, the remaining profit was 3.6 million, which was also deposited into the company's account.
The total income amounted to 9 million HKD!
Including the money earned from selling newspapers and magazines and the advertising fees from copywriting projects, and after subtracting various procurement and expenditure costs, the company's account still held 8.8 million HKD.
As the company planned significant actions, such as establishing branches in various countries and regions, which required substantial investment, Xia Yu reserved 3.8 million HKD and transferred 5 million HKD into the Jiuding Securities account.
He then arranged for Liu Tianci to leverage ten times to invest 50 million HKD, adding to the previous 235 million HKD, resulting in a total operable capital of 285 million HKD.
Xia Yu urgently allocated funds not only to generate profits but also because time was pressing. He needed to acquire enough shares in Qingzhou Yingni Company and Kowloon Warehouse quickly.
The acquisition of Qingzhou Yingni Company was nearing the point of exposure!
A major conflict was imminent, and Jiuding Securities needed to ensure it had enough funds to handle unexpected situations and also to continue the covert acquisition of Kowloon Warehouse shares!
After instructing Wang Qi previously, Xia Yu was certain that another institution secretly acquiring Qingzhou Yingni shares was definitely from Li Chaoren's side.
From that point on, Xia Yu instructed Wang Qi to continue acquiring Qingzhou Yingni shares and to start contacting minor shareholders to purchase their shares.
Today, Wang Qi reported to Xia Yu that, based on stock trading analysis, the acquisition situation of Qingzhou Yingni Company was likely discovered, not only by Li Chaoren's side but also possibly by the controlling party, the Keynes family!
Upon receiving the news, Xia Yu did not delay and immediately went to Jiuding Securities.
"Wang Qi, what's the current situation?"
Upon arriving at the securities company, Xia Yu directly asked Wang Qi.
"Boss, over the past two weeks, the stock price of Qingzhou Yingni Company has risen from 0.8 HKD per share to 0.9 HKD, with a market value reaching 90 million HKD. Today's increase was the largest, reaching 0.02 HKD. The number of stocks available in the market has significantly decreased. It seems the other side has noticed the difficulty in acquiring shares and has started to rely on increasing prices to buy, no longer trying to hide."
Wang Qi reported quickly.
"So how many shares of Qingzhou Yingni Company have we acquired so far?" Xia Yu asked again.
"Boss, with fifty accounts combined, we have acquired 18.6 million shares, totaling 18.6% of the company's shares, at a cost of 15.2 million HKD!" Wang Qi immediately reported. This data was well remembered.
Hearing this, Xia Yu nodded slightly and showed a satisfied smile.
"Well done, but this share is still too small. It's easy to drive up the stock price of Qingzhou Yingni Company now. Each share acquired means a profit. Continue arranging for more staff to buy shares in the market." Xia Yu first praised Wang Qi and then gave further instructions.
"By the way, how is the acquisition situation with other institutions and minor shareholders of Qingzhou Yingni Company?"
"Boss, the process is already underway. Among the 18.6% of shares, 4% were acquired through this method. I'll have people speed up the process." Wang Qi said.
"Time is running short. It's okay to raise the purchase price if needed. The goal is to acquire shares as quickly as possible. I suspect the other side is also moving, so we need to act fast!" Xia Yu's eyes narrowed as he spoke firmly.
With Li Chaoren's connections and resources, acquiring shares from other institutions and shareholders would be much easier for him than for Xia Yu.
Now, Xia Yu hoped that Li Chaoren had not yet reacted so that he could quickly acquire more shares before him.
Although Jiuding Securities and Li Chaoren were both operating in the dark compared to the Keynes family, the situation was such that Jiuding Securities was also in the dark, but because Xia Yu guessed Li Chaoren's involvement, he had become more visible.