Property developer SM Prime Holdings Inc. plans to open three new malls and expand five existing ones this year as it gears up for expansion outside Metro Manila.
SMPH said in its latest investor kit it would open SM City Butuan with 46,000 square meters of gross floor area, SM City San Pedro with 23,000 sq. m.; and SM City Sto Tomas with 58,000 sq. m.
The property firm will expand the existing SM City Marilao, SM City Cebu, SM City East Ortigas, SM City Bacolod and SM City Iloilo.
The new malls and the expansion of existing ones would add around 200,000 sq. m. of GFA in the company’s mall portfolio in the Philippines.
SMPH had 9 million sq. m. of GFA across 82 shopping malls as of end-2022.
SM Prime also operates seven malls in China with total GFA of 1.4 million sq. m.
SMPH said it has 328 hectares of property in its land bank which could be developed over the next five to seven years.
SMPH said its expansion is geared towards the provinces as it already covered almost all key cities in Metro Manila. Its malls in the National Capital Region represent 42 percent of the company’s total GFA in the Philippines.
Malls in Luzon, minus Metro Manila, account for 38 percent of total GFA, while those in the Visayas and Mindanao represent 12 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
“The focus is to cover most of Northern Luzon, Visayas and the progressive cities in Mindanao,” the property firm said.
SMPH reported a 38-percent year-on-year increase in net income to P30.1 billion last year, driven by the recovery of mall and residential businesses.
The group’s mall business accounted for 58 percent of total revenues in 2022, as rental income surged 92 percent to P44.14 billion from P23 billion it booked in 2021.
The group’s mall business benefitted from improving mobility, resumption of face-to-face classes and charging of full rental fees from tenants.
Operating income also jumped 248 percent to P26.9 billion from P7.73 billion in 2021.
SM Investments Corp., the parent firm of SMPH, saw its net income in 2022 surge by 53 percent to P61.7 billion from P40.4 billion in 2021 on strong performance of core banking, property and retail businesses.
SMIC said consolidated revenues went up 28 percent to P553.8 billion in 2022 from P432.4 billion in 2021.
“All of our business units delivered strong results, reflecting the Philippines’ economic recovery last year and the actions we took during the pandemic. SM also innovated and improved efficiencies across the board, and today we are focused again on expanding our footprint across the regions to serve more Filipinos,” SMIC president and chief executive Frederic DyBuncio said.