Occupy Central to hit Hongkong Land, Wharf Holdings hardest, UBS says

Hongkong Land and Wharf Holdings will suffer the most should the Occupy Central movement carry out its threat to block streets in the heart of the city, a study by investment bank UBS says.

That is because Hongkong Land offices are concentrated in the central business district, while Wharf owns shops targeting tourists in Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay.

Swire Properties, Hysan Development and The Link Reit will be less affected because of their properties' geographic locations and target customers, the report adds. The study was the first UBS has conducted on the impact on business of the civil disobedience campaign.

A key organiser of Occupy Central said he expected the report to pressure the government because it showed their efforts had caught the attention of foreign investors.

"The administration should offer the city genuine universal suffrage to prevent, or at least scale down, Occupy Central," Chinese University sociologist Dr Chan Kin-man said.

Chan doubted the report's accuracy, noting that UBS had not contacted the movement's organisers before the research was published.