Conglomerate SM Investments Corp. said Thursday net income climbed 11 percent in the first half to P15 billion from P13.5 billion a year ago, on the strong performance by banking, property and retail businesses.
SM Investments chief finance officer Jose Sio said in a news briefing the company would likely sustain its positive performance for the rest of the year on favorable economic condition.
First-half revenues increased 8.5 percent to P151.1 billion from P139.2 billion in the same period last year.
“Our strong first-half performance reflects continued economic growth, boosted in part by election spending. We continue to focus on cost efficiencies and operating margin improvements. With the merger of our retail businesses we now cater to a much wider range of consumer needs and we look forward to benefiting from increasing consumer spending,” SM Investment president Harley Sy said.
Sy said the property business contributed the most to consolidated net income with a 41-percent share, followed by banks with 38 percent and retail with 21 percent.
SM Retail said total sales increased 9 percent to P105.1 billion, while net income rose 14 percent to P3.5 billion.
SM Retail had 328 stores as of end-June, including 55 SM Stores, 47 SM Supermarkets, 45 SM Hypermarkets, 147 Savemore stores and 34 WalterMart stores.
The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the merger of SM Retail with Sy family-owned specialty store assets with over 1,400 outlets in June. The merger is expected to create value and boost earnings, given the strong competitive position of the specialty stores and synergies with SM malls.
Property unit SM Prime Holdings Inc. also reported a 12-percent growth in core net income to P12.6 billion, as consolidated revenues reached rose 9 percent to P39.2 billion.
Rental revenues from retail and commercial spaces, which accounted for 56 percent of consolidated revenues, grew 13 percent to P22.0 billion.
SM Prime executive vice president Jeffrey Lim said the group was also able to sell P3 billion worth of ready-to-occupy units in the first six months, boosting reservation sales.
SM Prime plans to launch additional 6,000 to 8,000 units in the second half.