Scrap king Jacky Chun Chi-wai was once ashamed about telling his daughters what he did for a living.
'Not many people recognised the value of scrap and some of them in the past viewed metal recyclers as scavengers,' said the co-founder and chairman of China Metal Recycling (Holdings). He used to tell his three daughters, aged between 11 and 14, that his company was a steel trader.
Thankfully, those days are long past. While waste is the stuff most people take out every night in a black plastic bag, for Mr Chun it is the gold that helped him build a HK$9.68 billion business empire.
China Metal is the country's biggest scrap metal recycler with annual revenue of HK$6.5 billion last year. It is also the first scrap metal recycler listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange after its HK$1.78 billion initial public offering in June. The 43-year-old chairman is proud that his business brings a handsome profit while at the same time helps protect the environment.
With growing awareness of environmental protection and energy conservation, his daughters are now more likely to see him as a hero. 'People now call us an environmental protection company. Mindsets are changing,' he said.
China Metal's net earnings rose 72 per cent to HK$307.9 million last year. Mr Chun's personal wealth, based on his 60.7 per cent holding in the company, is HK$5.88 billion.
