SM Prime to spend P88-B for more malls

MANILA, Philippines – Sy-led SM Prime will invest P88 billion in the next 3 years to grow its shopping mall portfolio.

One of the country’s biggest mall developers said it will invest the money in its expansions across the Philippines and China, according to SM Prime chief finance officer Jeffrey Lim at a press briefing on Tuesday April 16.

“For 2013, we expect to spend P35 billion for both the Philippines and China. The year 2014 we will spend about P26 billion and P27 billion in 2015. This will be funded with internally generated funds and external borrowings,” said Lim

Half of the expansion will be funded with internally generated funds and half by external borrowings, Lim said.

Expansion plans for 2013 include the opening of:

• 235,000-sqm SM Aura Premier in the 2nd quarter
• 114,000-sqm SM City BF Parañaque 
• 101,000-sqm expansion of SM Megamall Building D

By the end of 2013, SM Prime will have 48 malls with about 6.1 million square meters in GFA in the Philippines alone.

At present, SM Prime owns and operates 46 stores in the Philippines and 5 in China.

SM Prime also announced 15% year-on-year growth in the first quarter and a net profit of P2.79 billion boosted by rental revenue expansion and the opening of new malls.

Hans Sy, president of SM Prime, attributed their growth to their strategy “We focus on the second and third tier cities. The first tier cities really has slowed down but if you do a study on the second and third tier cities it is still growing,” said Sy. – Rappler.com