SM eyes Asean expansion for business units

MANILA, Philippines—Sy family-led conglomerate SM Investments Corp. is grooming two of its key businesses—property and banking—to expand across Southeast Asia to take advantage of opportunities arising from the region’s economic integration starting 2015.

“We’re open. We’re looking at opportunities for expansion,” SMIC vice chair Teresita Sy-Coson said in an interview after SMIC’s annual stockholders’ meeting. “We’re actually more of a Philippine company focused on Philippine growth but looking at Southeast Asia, looking at the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).”

Asked about the key challenge for SMIC, Sy-Coson said this would be looking for new investments, which are the drivers for future growth.

While the property business was now expanding in mainland China—particularly in mall development and possibly residential development in the future—Sy-Coson cited Southeast Asia as another potential platform for overseas expansion.—Doris C. Dumlao