2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 168 Financial Status of the Three Companies

Thursday, October 10, sunny.

Tan Jincheng slept until noon before getting up. He had driven two long-distance trips yesterday and was still very tired.

After washing up and having a quick lunch, Tan Jincheng drove to the company. The company had returned to normal today, with all staff, including those in the workshop and management, back in place.

As soon as I entered the office, Zhang Xuhui came to greet me.

"I heard you went to Guangzhou for fun?"

"Yeah, I went to play with Pengya." Zhang Xuhui looked like he hadn't had enough.

Tan Jincheng couldn't help but laugh. Zhang Xupeng had told him about this a couple of days ago; that kid was really despicable.

"Enough is enough. You're still young, don't get addicted to this, it won't do you any good."

Zhang Xuhui was taken aback, and after a while he realized what he meant, blushing as he said, "Pengya, you told me all about this."

“Our relationship isn’t what you think. We grew up together for 20 years, and apart from the last two years because of work, we’ve been together in almost everything. We’re probably closer than you, my cousin.”

Whether in their past or present lives, the two are the closest of partners, with no defenses against each other and knowing most things about each other. In this life, Zhang Xupeng knows almost everything except that Tan Jincheng is a reincarnated person.

Zhang Xupeng even had a general understanding of Flashpoint's business model.

“Okay, I understand. It’s enough to have seen it.” Zhang Xuhui nodded.

The boss is targeting me. Although I'm Pengya's cousin, Pengya definitely trusts the boss more than I do. If I don't do my job well, Pengya will also side with the boss.

"Okay, I'll give you two tasks." Seeing that Zhang Xuhui understood what he wanted to say, Tan Jincheng stopped talking about it.

"Boss, please speak."

"First, gather information on the National Day promotions and approximate sales figures of major brands on the market, and then contact the marketing department."

"Second, help me contact Liu Yifei's agent. You can ask Sun Yuming for help. He's the one who got the information when Chun Ge signed the contract last time."

Zhang Xuhui raised an eyebrow: "Is the boss going to sign Liu Yifei as the new spokesperson?"

"Yes, I have that idea. I'll contact her agent and send her an endorsement invitation. The reason will be that we have a new product and need to find an endorser. Also, remember to keep this a secret."

"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away."

Liu Yifei is only 18 years old this year, and she has never had any major scandals or negative news. Even in 2023, her endorsement image has always been relatively high-end, and she even became a tourism ambassador for a wealthy Middle Eastern country.

If possible, Tan Jincheng does not intend to sign a contract for only two years, but at least five or ten years, and these ten years will also be the ten years in which his influence is strongest.

One major advantage of reborn individuals wanting to sign endorsement deals is that they know exactly which celebrities will become popular, how long their popularity will last, and which will have scandals, ensuring they won't step on any landmines.

However, signing a ten-year contract would cost a lot of money. Where would I get that money? Ugh, this is a headache.

With a status of 150 million, the endorsement fee for ten years would definitely not be 1500 million. Just like rent, there is room for price increase every year. This is called the premium model.

Taking out the financial report he had previously obtained from the finance department from the locked drawer, Tan Jincheng began to analyze the company's financial situation, trying to see if he could deduct some extra money from somewhere.

Currently, the available cash flow is over 800 million yuan, and the monthly advance payment received from suppliers is 547.1 million yuan (50% in Yicheng area and 40% in other areas).

After the National Day holiday, there will be more than 1300 million yuan in cash available. After deducting payments to suppliers and expenses such as employee costs, there will be about 300 million yuan left.

From the middle of the month onwards, more than 700 million yuan in final payments will be received, meaning that by the end of the month, the account will have a maximum of 1300 million yuan in cash.

This money is definitely not to be used. It's the company's cash flow and its lifeline. There's no need to risk the company's life for a spokesperson.

In reality, Flash's gross profit margin is not high at present. The monthly sales are only over 1200 million, but the various expenses, including supply chain and labor costs, taxes, etc., amount to more than 1000 million.

In reality, they can only earn about 200 million yuan a month, which is far less than the earning power of Jinpeng and Jinyi companies.

"Sigh, we still have to focus on exports. We need to get Flash's export network up and running as soon as possible."

FlashCheer only started making a profit in October, and it has 1300 million yuan in cash flow that cannot be touched. At the end of the year, it also has to repay 800 million yuan in short-term debts and interest to Zhang Xupeng and Zhang Mingcan.

By the end of the year, the fixed costs of the previous year, plus the cash flow from the profit account, amounted to only 2000 million yuan.

They want to sign Liu Yifei for ten years for 2000 million yuan, but they really can't afford that.

Damn, that's a bit of an overstatement.

Liu Yifei is destined to become a top-tier star. It's better not to sign such a star for two years, otherwise, she might end up endorsing a competitor's brand after the contract expires, which would only cause her trouble. Although it's rare for a star to do something so unethical and damaging to their own reputation, there's always a chance someone will offer a higher price. So, we should at least sign her for five years first.

Five years later, the brand image of Flash and Windmill will be firmly established, and celebrities will no longer be the selling point of the brand.

What is this little girl doing right now? Isn't she an adult this year?
Open Baidu, hey, born on August 25th, 18 years and one month old, exactly two years younger than Tan Jincheng. Tan Jincheng's birthday is the Qixi Festival in the lunar calendar, but the date on his ID card is actually August 22nd, exactly three days different.

She's currently filming The Return of the Condor Heroes in Hengdian, the version starring Huang Xiaoming. I haven't seen this version of Tan Jincheng, but Huang Xiaoming's Yang Guo is really an eyesore. However, Xiaolongnu is quite popular, known as the most ethereal Xiaolongnu. Especially with the later "Baozi" version for comparison, this version became popular again for a while.

Since the money in Flashpoint's accounts cannot be used, we have to think of other solutions.

After thinking for a moment, Tan Jincheng called the finance department: "Sister Liu, could you print out a copy of the financial statements for Jinpeng Trading and Jinyi Industry for me?"

"Okay, boss, just a moment."

As the major shareholder of Jinpeng Trading, although Tan Jincheng no longer actually participates in the company's operations, he still has no problem accessing and reviewing the company's accounts. However, he still needs to inform Zhang Xupeng.

"Hey, Lao Zhang, let me take a look at Jinpeng Trading's financial statements." Tan Jincheng made a call to Zhang Xupeng.

"Go ahead and look, what's there to say? But why do you need to see the accounts?"

"Hey, you're short of money, aren't you? You're thinking of messing with Jinpeng Trading again. You'd better be prepared."

"What do you mean? Why are you short of money again? What have you been up to now? Didn't we already make a profit?"

"Didn't Brother Xuhui tell you? He rented another 3000-square-meter factory and plans to expand production. He also wants to sign a new spokesperson."

"Holy crap! Over 3000 square meters? You've gone all out now? Damn it, what kind of bet is this? I'll just forget about the 8 yuan you owe me." Zhang Xupeng said in shock.

Tan Jincheng was somewhat surprised by this reaction. Based on his understanding of Zhang Xupeng, it seemed that Zhang Xupeng genuinely didn't know.

"No way? You really didn't know? Xu Hui didn't tell you? I thought he would tell you about it when he went over there."

"Why is he telling me all this? Don't you think too little of my cousin? Isn't it normal for an assistant to keep his mouth shut? I told him about this before he started work."

"Haha, you're different, aren't you? I thought he would tell you; I forgot to tell you. Oh well, my bad. I'll treat you to dinner when I get back."

Not bad, not bad. From this point of view, Zhang Xuhui is not bad. He was able to keep quiet about company matters with Zhang Xupeng even under the onslaught of extravagance and debauchery in Dongguan.

It seems we can try giving him more responsibilities later.

Given their relationship, it's impossible for Zhang Xupeng not to ask about Tan Jincheng when Zhang Xuhui visits. Similarly, if someone close to Zhang Xupeng comes to visit Tan Jincheng, Tan Jincheng will definitely inquire about them.

"What did you mean by 'be prepared'? And also, did you manage to win over Gu Qingqing by National Day?"

"Am I that kind of person? I'm a gentleman, okay?"

"You're such a jerk! There's no one worse than you. You call me immoral, but you're even more immoral! You're the one who led us to Dongguan, you know? Brother Liu's eyes lit up as soon as he heard we were going to Dongguan. You've corrupted us all."

"That's because you guys were never good people to begin with, it has nothing to do with me, but you're despicable for harming your own brother."

"Cousin! Cousin!"

A knock came at the door, and Tan Jincheng interrupted Zhang Xupeng, saying, "Alright, I'm not going to argue with you anymore. Just be prepared. I need to look at the reports."

"Come in."

Liu Meilin pushed open the door and handed two financial statements to Tan Jincheng. Seeing that Tan Jincheng had no other instructions, she left the office.

The first thing I looked at was Jinyi Industrial's finances. Tan Jincheng didn't put much effort into this company. Apart from getting the supply chain sorted out in the early stages, it was basically left to its own devices. In addition, since it was established after the Spring Canton Fair, its business was mainly conducted on Alibaba International Station.

The company's business capabilities are currently mediocre, and its cash reserves are very limited. Whether it can truly succeed depends on this Canton Fair, and its financial situation will not improve until at least next year.

"It's pretty useless, but it might raise two or three million, but there's no need for it, sigh."

Tan Jincheng casually put Jinyi Industrial's financial statements aside, picked up Jinpeng Trading's financial statements, and was shocked when he saw them.

"Holy crap! Old Zhang's got some skills; he's really made a name for himself with children's clothing."

As of the end of September 2005, Jinpeng Trading's two major business segments, women's wear and children's wear, had a total actual export value of US$1754.39 million, which, at the current exchange rate, exceeded RMB 1.43 million!

Net profit reached a staggering US$736.84 million, representing a net profit margin of 42%! That's over 6000 million RMB!

"Damn, this pen is the real billionaire!"

(End of this chapter)