SOUTHEAST Asian property giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. posted a 70-percent year-on-year growth in consolidated net income to P22.9 billion in the first nine months, boosted by one-time trading gains early in the year.
Excluding extraordinary items, SM Prime’s nine-month core net income increased by 15 percent year-on-year to P15.5 billion on the back of double-digit expansion in rental revenues, the company disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday.
Recurring income growth for the third quarter was likewise up by 15 percent year-on-year to P4.2 billion. In the third quarter, revenues likewise increased by 13 percent year-on-year to P16.2 billion.
“SM Prime’s expansion across all its various business portfolios since 2013 has driven its strong financial performance this year. We expect SM Prime’s growth to be sustained as we continue to increase our mall footprint by 13 percent this year,” SM Prime president Hans Sy said.
SM Prime’s consolidated revenues rose by 9 percent year-on-year to P52.2 billion in the first nine months.
The property firm booked P7.4 billion in one-time trading gains on marketable securities in the first quarter of the year, which boosted earnings during the period.
Rental revenues from retail and commercial spaces contributed 56 percent to SM Prime’s consolidated revenues. These revenues increased by 11 percent year-on-year to P29.4 billion in the first nine months.
The growth in rental revenues was mainly driven by rising contributions from new malls and the expansion of shopping spaces in existing malls in 2013 and 2014, the company said.
Real estate sales, meanwhile, accounted for 32 percent of SM Prime’s consolidated revenues. These earnings from the residential development segment grew by 4 percent year-on-year to P16.6 billion.
The improvement in real estate sales was largely attributed to the increase in the sales take-up and higher construction accomplishment of SM Development Corp. (SMDC) projects launched between 2010 and 2013.
SMDC alone grew its net income by 23 percent year-on-year to P3.8 billion during the nine-month period. As an indicator of future growth, reservation sales posted by the housing group grew by 22 percent year-on-year to P28.4 billion.
SMDC is expected to launch about 12,000 to 15,000 residential units for the full year. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla