Chapter 33 Don’t Be Afraid, Keep Going (2)

It is obvious that Contini's promotion of Betty was a waste of money, but another sentence surprised all the managers. Contini once said to Betty half-jokingly and half-seriously during a high-level meeting: "Vivian adopted a child. I am the godfather of this child. I also named her Betty. I really hope that this child can be as capable as you in the future..."

Vivian suddenly adopted a child, and Contini became the godfather. This was very explosive news in the small circle. Many people were speculating about the relationship between Contini and the child. Everyone is not stupid. Vivian disappeared from IBC for more than half a year under the pretext of preparing a graduation thesis. After returning, she not only gained weight, but also suddenly had an adopted daughter. What's more strange is that this adopted daughter also recognized the president as her godfather. Anyone with an IQ of no less than 90 can guess the whole story, but no one dared to ask the truth.

Some people also privately defended Vivian: Such a beautiful girl, I feel pity for her, how could the president be so cruel? But two days later, after hearing that Vivian had 400 million lira company shares, she stopped talking about it. Not everyone is willing to pay such a large sum of money.

As if it was planned, a few days after Vivian came back, Adriana asked for leave from IBC again and broadcast on the radio that her mother was seriously ill and needed company. She had already officially graduated, but she didn't dare to find an excuse to write a graduation thesis. She soon disappeared from the public eye. Antonio, Leo and other close friends all knew what she was doing. After a while, they had to prepare shares for her. They had to treat her equally. Besides, more than 400 million lira is nothing. Now the total assets of the United Group have exceeded 14 billion lira, but the debt ratio and loss are a bit high. The net assets are less than 6 billion, and the debt ratio exceeds 57%.

So on the eve of the economic work, the United Group made an exception and held a financial meeting first. At the meeting, Leo and Antonio both advised Contini to cut expenses, reduce projects, and balance the budget.

Antonio persuaded from the perspective of expenditure: "Master, you have established the Oil Guard, and so far it has not generated a single lira of income, but the annual salary of more than 2,000 German officers alone requires 90-95 million liras a year. Counting their food, clothing, housing and transportation, at least 120 million liras a year are required, which is a pure loss; in addition, more than 5,000 Italian officers and soldiers are expected to require an investment of 180 million liras a year, plus the domestic volunteers, Roman guards and other miscellaneous military expenses, at least 400 million liras, this is a pure loss project. I haven't even counted the special cruise ship you plan to pay in installments for 4 years;

You acquired shares in the aircraft factory, tank and armored vehicle factory, gun factory and Bereda Company, and invested them The funds are nearly 2 billion liras. Even if we don't consider depreciation, the financial expenses alone are equivalent to 100 million liras of interest each year. We will have to bear their own operating expenses starting from next year. I took a look and found that except for Bereda, the others are all in a loss-making state and have few orders. You have to invest 1 billion liras in research and development, equipment updates and other expenses for these aircraft factories, submarine factories, gun factories, tank armored factories. I was shocked after the statistics. The investment in the military level will soon exceed 3.5 billion liras, which is almost equal to the total military expenditure of the German Defense Forces. The loss of more than 800 million liras is only a tangible loss, not counting the depreciation and other management costs that are slowly consumed. After all, we are a company, an enterprise Group, it is feasible to build some military strength to protect yourself, but it is completely unrealistic to invest more than 10,000 troops like you did, which is equivalent to the entire military expenditure of the German Defense Force. You don’t really want to build the fourth largest armed group in the Mediterranean? Some things can be played with. If you make it bigger, it will be politically and economically disadvantageous! Even if you care about the country, I won’t say anything if you donate 200-300 million lire to the army and navy every year. It’s better than you investing 3.5 billion lire and suffering a loss of 800 million, right? "

"This money cannot be simply donated to the army and navy. There is another account with the army and navy. The navy has found me. After October this year, they want to deal with the Dante to us, so a budget must be reserved. "

"How much?"

"At least 80 million lire, Maybe if we add some more, it will exceed 100 million. "

"It's too much. Even a big family can't stand such a toss. If the navy is like this, you won't say that the army can't do it, right?"

Leo persuaded from a financial professional tone: "This year we have completed 3.7 billion lira of project investment (excluding corporate mergers and acquisitions). Next year, according to the strategic plan, we need to invest 5.6-6 billion in construction projects. If the additional military expenses alone exceed 1.5 billion, I'm afraid the total loan amount will exceed 7.5 billion. In addition, deducting the possible loss of 1.5 billion lira, the balance sheet will become very ugly, because at present, except for United Motorcycle, which has a profit of 10 to 20 million lira, no other profit is made. "

"Are movies and IBC not profitable?"

"Looking at the books alone, both the movie and IBC are profitable, but don't forget that for promotion, our radios were almost given away for free. This account needs to be amortized, right? Also, you went to Germany, It is said that they have to print 300,000 books and send them to Germany for free. The printing and transportation costs are enough to eat up the profit of the movie..." Leo said unceremoniously, "So I adjusted their accounts to Negative, Dr. Goebbels fully agrees! He is still racking his brains to think about what good movies to make this year to bring back some profits. He is trying very hard to balance the accounts, at least not to lose a single lira in the company! shares, but he is very concerned about the losses and works hard to recover them, but you don’t care that the losses are all your money.”

"Goebbels is good. The commendation meeting can give him an advanced rating. How about the President's Special Award for his outstanding performance this year?"

"You!" Leo was furious!

"Just kidding, don't be angry... don't tell me how the process went, tell me the result first..."

"The result is that the balance sheet will show that the United Group's total assets will exceed 20 billion lire by the end of the year, but its net assets will drop to only 4 billion, and its debt ratio will exceed 80%, entering an extremely dangerous period."

"Leo, you are overthinking. It's not as serious as you think." Contini slapped his head, "I forgot to tell you one thing when I came back. I sold 10 shares of Algerian crude oil."

"Sold to whom?"

"A lot of people!" Contini recalled, "German royal family, 3%, 15 million; Belgian royal family, 2%, 10.4 million; Dutch royal family, 1%, 5.4 million; Greek royal family, 1%, 5.5 million; Norwegian royal family , 1%, 5.5 million...and as you know, the Italian royal family 2%, 10 million, and the Pope 2%, 10 million! Is this included? "

Leo's face softened: "That's not even counting. In this case, it's not just 10%, but 12%. In total, it can be exchanged for more than 1.1 billion to less than 1.2 billion lira."

"So my balance sheet is different from yours..." Contini spread his hands, "I have made up for the so-called loss of 1.24 billion lire this year. If it is still worse, then sell another 1% of the Swedish royal family here Still talking.”

"We don't know when you reached the agreement."

"This is the reaction after our development project was rejected by the French government..." Contini smiled, "Originally, after the consortium bought shares 4 times, our total shares were 59%, and we sold 12%, and then deducted the shares of the leaders and others. After acquiring shares, our shares are 46% and I still have the initiative.”

"But why do you want to sell? Didn't you say that after listing, the valuation will expand to 800 million or even 1 billion? You are killing the goose that lays the goose before you sell it now for just over 500 million!"

"Because I need money and more money to keep the remaining 46% of the equity. Do you know what the oil guard is for? Do you know my determination to part ways with the French government?" Contini knocked on the table and emphasized, "This 3.5 billion lire, which is equivalent to Germany's annual military expenditure, is what I used to warn the French, don't force me, I am not easy to mess with. If you make me anxious, I will support the Algerian independent armed forces in a minute. Isn't it just 1 -20 million dollars? I want the French to weigh whether they want to steal 5% more oil from me or be prepared to pay the price of the Algerian rebellion!”

"Crazy!"

Antonio and Leo were stunned!

"Do you know why I want to hire Germans? When fighting Libya, they may be too lazy to raise their spirits, but when fighting France, I guarantee that the Germans, who have just been suffocating in the Ruhr, will burst out with the most intense passion. Come!"

"I understand, why did you insist on forming an oil guard even though you knew that the Italian Army was going to send two divisions to Libya, and the organization was the size of a brigade? Have you already thought about it one day?"

Contini did not deny it, but emphasized: "I reiterate, I don't want to fight the French, but if they force me, I will accompany them! Why don't I just spend tens of millions of dollars to have fun... I can afford it!"

Antonio shook his head and was speechless: The young master is going to play the dangerous brink of war strategy on the Greek issue again.

“Selling shares to the royal families of various countries is to collect funds on the one hand, and on the other hand to let them send a message to the French government to remind the French not to misjudge the situation.” Contini explained, “I believe that the French government is still politically aware of current affairs. They can think about it, what is the British attitude towards this matter? Do the British want the French to help me drive away Algerian oil, or do they want me to confuse the situation in Algeria and let Great Britain reap the benefits? profit?"

"Only by mortgaging these 3.5 billion liras can I keep the remaining 46% of the shares, which are either worth 400 million U.S. dollars or 300 million U.S. dollars. The credibility of the United Group will be effective. Otherwise, as long as the French government succeeds in suppressing us, everything else will If we follow the same pattern and pounce, will we be able to keep it when the time comes?" Contini emphasized, "No matter how you persuade us, these 3.5 billion lire must be invested. The Dante must be bought and the Ida must be built. Not only that, United Airlines will expand, frontline airports will be set up in Benghazi and Tripoli, and new F1 fighters and bombers will be deployed forward. I want to see what planes and people the French send to Africa!"