SM Investments declares P3.50/share cash dividend

SM Investments Corp., the investment holding company of retail tycoon Henry Sy, declared a cash dividend of P3.50 per share worth a total P1.85 billion.

Entitled to receive dividends are shareholders on record as of June 14. The dividends are payable on June 20.

SM Investments raised P28.75 billion through an initial public offering of its shares last March. Proceeds from the offering (IPO) had been earmarked for the payment of debts and the development of shopping centers and leisure resorts in provinces south of Manila.

SM Investments is engaged in four core businesses through its subsidiaries, namely: shopping Malls (SM Prime Holdings Inc.), retail merchandising (SM Department Stores), financial services (Banco de Oro Universal Bank, China Banking Corp.), and real estate development and tourism (SM Development Corp. and Highlands Prime Inc.).

For this year, SM Prime will open four malls: SM Mall of Asia; SM City San Lazaro; SM City Molino, Cavite; and SM Sta.Rosa, Laguna. The company plans to set up five new malls in 2006 in sites including Clark, Pampanga and Lipa, Batangas.

SM Mall of Asia is envisioned as the country’s premier shopping destination and tourist attraction as the biggest shopping mall in the country. The first phase involves the development of main mall, an entertainment complex and two parking buildings with a gross floor area of 300,000 square meters. It is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Plans are now underway for the construction of a hotel which will form part of the second phase of construction at the Mall of Asia. The SM Group is looking for a strategic partner to manage the hotel, which will be named SM Mall of Asia Hotel.

Other plans include the establishment of an information technology hub to be called SM iCity to serve as a location for companies engaged in software development and IT-enabled services such as call centers, data encoding, and transcribing and processing. A total of 69,300 square meters is allocated for the IT building within the SM Central Business Park along Manila Bay.

The SM Group is also considering expanding in other emerging markets in Asia like Indonesia, Vietnam and India, for continued growth. Two new malls are under construction in China, one in north Xiamen and one in Shunde.

The expansion will be undertaken and majority owned by the SM Group, in partnership with local companies in the host countries.