The Wharf (Holdings)


The Wharf Limited, or Wharf in short, is a company founded in 1886 in Hong Kong. As its name suggests, the company's original business was in running wharfage and dockside warehousing, and it was originally known as The Hong Kong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company, Limited and founded by Sir Paul Chater. The company adopted its current name in 1986. The current major holder of the company is Wheelock & Co.

Background

Even today, the company is still the owner of the Star Ferry, although this icon of Hong Kong now forms a relatively small part of the company's portfolio. The Five Flag Poles, a set of flag poles flying flags of the company, are a short walk from the Star Ferry's Tsim Sha Tsui pier and form a local landmark and meeting point.
In a more modern vein, the company owns two major flagship properties in the Harbour City and Times Square shopping centres in Hong Kong. Both owe their origins to the company's transportation heritage, as they are respectively built on the site of the company's original wharf, and on the site of the original depot of the Hong Kong Tramway, a former subsidiary.
Other holdings in Hong Kong include i-CABLE, Cable TV and WTT, and Modern Terminals. The company also holds many properties in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Kowloon.
Wharf Holdings also owns operations and residential developments in Singapore through its Wheelock Properties subsidiary. Such properties include Wheelock Place and the former Seaview Hotel.
On 26 July 2016, it was announced that Wharf Holdings is investing RMB 150 million to form WWE & Company, a social mobile shopping platform technology company.

Hang Seng Index Constituency

It was announced by Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited in February 2018 that after its quarterly review of index composition as at end Dec 2017, Wharf Holdings is to be removed from Hang Seng Index constituency. This will take effect on March 5, 2018.