SM Prime’s 9-month profit surges 15%

MANILA -- Profit of Sy family-led property giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. grew  by 15 percent in the first nine months of 2017 on strong mall revenues.

SM Prime told the local bourse its net income reached PHP20.05 billion in January to September from PHP17.45 billion last year.

SM Prime’s consolidated revenue surged 12 percent to PHP64.69 billion from PHP57.78 billion on the back of additional rental revenues from mall expansions, consistent improvement in same-mall-sales and higher contribution from residential sales.

Net income for July to September quarter alone increased 16 percent to PHP5.66 billion from PHP4.86 billion.

“SM Prime’s performance in the third quarter is a testament to the buoyant overall economy that benefits the whole property market. The timely expansion of our malls and launches of our residential projects in the provinces are positively contributing to the strong performance of our Company. Given all these, we remain optimistic that we are on track to meet our growth target this year,” said SM Prime President Jeffrey C. Lim.  

Mall revenues posted a 10-percent growth to PHP38.58 billion in the first nine months of 2017 from PHP35.07 billion last year. The malls operation contributed 60 percent of the consolidated revenues.

SM Prime currently has 65 shopping malls in the Philippines and seven in China with a gross floor area (GFA) of 8.0 million square meters (sqm) and 1.3 million sqm, respectively.

The company will open two new malls before the year-ends, namely SM Center Lemery in Batangas and SM Center Pulilan in Bulacan, which will bring its provincial malls to 44 from 38 in 2016.

Residential group’s revenues, which account to 32 percent of the consolidated revenues, expanded by 10 percent to PhP20.50 billion from PhP18.66 billion.

SM Prime attributed higher revenues to increase in sales take-up of ready-for-occupancy (RFO) units and construction accomplishments of SM Development Corporation (SMDC).

The rest of SM Prime’s businesses, which account for 8 percent of the consolidated revenues, posted revenue growth of 39 percent to PHP5.76 billion in the first nine months of the year from PHP4.13 billion last year.

To date, SM Prime has six office buildings with a combined GFA of 383,000 sqm.

ThreeE-Com and FourE-Com Centers in the Mall of Asia Complex are expected to add an estimated GFA of 320,000 sqm in the company’s office portfolio once completed in 2018 and 2020, respectively.

SM Prime has six hotels with over 1,500 rooms, four convention centers and three trade halls in its portfolio.  (PNA)