SM Prime clears P8.43 B

MANILA, Philippines - Shopping mall giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. posted a net income of P8.43 billion in the nine months to September this year, up 14 percent from last year as it benifited from new branch openings and higher rental income from existing malls.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SM Prime said gross revenues climbed 12 percent to P24.77 billion, with lease operations accounting for 85 percent of total.

Rental revenues rose 12 percent to P20.94 billion due to contributions of new malls that opened last year and this year. The newly-opened malls –  SM City Olongapo, SM City Consolacion,

SM City San Fernando, SM City General Santos, SM Lanang Premier and SM Aura Premier - expanded SM Prime’s gross floor area (GFA) by 698,000 square meters.

The company continued to unlock higher rental earnings with same-store rental growth at seven percent.

SM Prime’s five malls in China with total GFA of around 0.8 million sqm, accounted for nine percent or P2.17 billion of the group’s total revenues. The amount was 14 percent higher year on year due to improved mall productivity and lease renewals for SM Xiamen, SM Jinjiang and SM Chengdu. The average occupancy rate of these three malls stood at 93 percent.

In terms of rental revenues, the China operations contributed 10 percent.

“We continue to exceed our expectations. We expect to sustain our strong performance as we approach the yearend especially as the Christmas season has been, traditionally, our strongest period. Our robust performance in the nine months of 2013 is a testament to the strength of consumption driven by the increase in OFW remittances and the continued growth of the BPO industry,” SM Prime president Hans T. Sy said.

SM Prime expects to end the year with 48 malls covering about 6.1 million sqm. in GFA in the Philippines alone.