SM Investments posts strong H1 income

MANILA, Philippines — SM Investments Corp., the listed conglomerate of the Sy Group, reported a strong first half net income of P36.5 billion, up 32 percent from P27.7 billion a year ago.

The company raked in P286.3 billion in revenues during the period, up 18 percent from P242.6 billion in the same period last year.

SM Investments president and CEO Frederic DyBuncio said the positive economic environment pushed revenge-spending which, in turn, boosted the company’s results.

“SM delivered strong results in the first half, driven by solid consumer sentiment on the back of a positive economic environment. Our performance was driven by fundamental demand, without the added benefit of post-pandemic ‘revenge spending’ that contributed to last year’s results. We experienced robust consumer confidence, consistent with the Philippines’ overall economic growth, record low unemployment and improving inflation environment. This provides us with a solid basis for the balance of the year, in which we typically see our strongest quarters,” he said.

This was buoyed by a 29 percent growth in consolidated revenues to P59.9 billion from P46.3 billion in the same period in 2022.

SM Prime’s Philippine mall business, which accounts for 53 percent of consolidated revenues, grew 53 percent to P31.5 billion from P20.6 billion.

Revenues of SM Prime’s primary residential business, led by SM Development Corp. (SMDC) amounted to P17.6 billion. SMDC’s reservation sales grew 15 percent to P68.5 billion from P59.4 billion.

Revenues of SM Prime’s other business segments, which include offices, hotels, and convention centers, grew 40 percent to P6.2 billion from P4.5 billion.

SM Retail, meanwhile, posted a net income of P8.4 billion, up 21 percent to from P7 billion. Revenues were up 15 percent to P188.9 billion from P164.3 billion a year ago.

This was on the back of improved shopping activity supported by improving employment.

As a result, revenues for the department store grew 27 percent while specialty retail revenues increased 18 percent. Food retail revenues grew 10 percent with Alfamart as the fastest-growing food business, posting 26 percent revenue growth in the first half.

SM Retail and its affiliates added 174 stores, bringing the total retail network to 3,677 stores.

DyBuncio said consumer spending was notably strong in discretionary categories, such as fashion, dining out, and entertainment, reflecting increased spending power on lifestyle and experiences, underpinned by stronger consumer confidence.