SM Prime nets P17.5B

Southeast Asian property giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SM Prime) grew its consolidated net income by 13 percent year-on-year to P17.5 billion in the first nine months, buoyed by higher shopping mall, office, residential development and hotel revenues.

For the third quarter alone, SM Prime’s net profit rose by 15 percent year-on-year to P4.9 billion, supported by a 14 percent expansion in revenues to P18.5 billion.

For the nine-month period, overall revenues of the company improved by 11 percent to P57.8 billion, attributed to the sustained growth of its key business units – rental operations and real estate sales.

“SM Prime sustained its overall performance as it benefited from the continued growth of the economy. The synergy and contribution of our business units are reflected in our strong results. We expect SM Prime’s success to continue over the medium-term as economic growth spread to the rest of the Philippines, which should bode well with our expansion in other key cities and provinces,” SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday.

Philippine shopping mall revenues grew by 9 percent year-on-year to P32.1 billion in the first nine months. Rental income expanded by 11 percent year-on-year to P26.9 billion from existing and new malls.

In the last two years, the group expanded its gross floor area (GFA) by one million square meters (sqms). Excluding the new retail space, same-mall sales grew by 7 percent year-on-year.

Cinema and event ticket sales contributed P3.44 billion in revenues for the nine-month period, flat from the level last year.

Meanwhile, mall revenues from China rose by 5 percent year-on-year to P3.1 billion while operating income grew by 6 percent year-on-year to P1.5 billion.

Currently, SM Prime has 58 malls in the Philippines and six in China with a GFA of 8.5 million sqms.

SM Prime is scheduled to open SM East Ortigas this December while SM City Tianjin in China will open in phases towards the end of the year. By the end of 2016, SM Prime will have a combined GFA of almost 9 million sqms.

The residential group led by SM Development Corporation (SMDC), meanwhile, contributed 32 percent to consolidated revenues. Its revenues grew by 10 percent to P18.7 billion from the same level last year.