RETAIL business in the Philippines remains robust amidst a continuously improving consumption pattern of Filipinos, fueling investments for more retail space in the country.

Major developer SM Prime Holdings, Inc. continues to commit itself to opening three to four malls every year as it expands its exposure to more areas outside metropolis in the Philippines.

Its sister company SM Retail also is also expanding its stores SM Supermarket, Hypermarket, Department Stores and Save More.

Government’s estimate show that in 2011, household consumption was pegged at P7.14 trillion, more than 70 percent that of the country’s total economic output estimated at P9.73 trillion, which shows how private consumption effectively corners a big chunk of the factors that contribute to economic growth.

Based on the performance of retail-related companies, SM Prime reported that profit last year reached P9.1 billion, 15 percent higher than the previous year’s P7.9 billion in 2010.

Total revenues reached P26.9 billion, up 13 percent from last year’s P23.7 billion, with a big portion coming from its retail space rentals.

SM Prime said consolidated rental revenues contributed 85 percent to the total revenues, which grew 14 percent at P22.8 billion.

‘New rental space came from SM City Tarlac, SM City San Pablo, SM City Calamba, SM City Novaliches and SM City Masinag. Combined, the new malls added 380,000 square meters (sqm) to the company’s total gross floor area (GFA) and presently register an average occupancy rate of 97 percent,’ SM Prime said.

SM Prime, however, also included in its financial report the contribution of four SM China malls located in the cities of Xiamen and Jinjiang in Southern China, Chengdu in Central China, and Suzhou Eastern China.

SM Retail meanwhile reported that profit from operation netted P5.8 billion, up 3 percent compared to 2010. Total sales grew 9 percent to P148.2 billion.

SM Investments said the continued expansion, particularly through new SaveMore branches, remained a key driver of the group’s performance, with 25 new branches opened in 2011. SM Retail opened 34 new stores in 2011, to bring its total stores to 169, consists of 41 department stores, 33 supermarkets, 65 SaveMore branches, and 30 hypermarkets.

‘Store expansion in 2012 will continue to focus on the provinces for the anchor stores located in the malls, while SaveMore will see its number of stores growing by 30 to 40 stores nationwide,’ SM Investments said.

Ayala Land, Inc., of the Ayala group of companies, meanwhile noted that its commercial leasing business posted a total revenues of P7.46 billion in 2011, 16 percent higher than the P6.45 billion recorded the previous year.

Revenues from Shopping Centers increased 14 percent to P4.96 billion in 2011, driven by higher average occupancy and lease rates, said Ayala Land.

‘Average occupancy rate across all malls reached 96 percent compared with 94 percent in 2010. The opening of Abreeza Mall in Davao City and Solenad 2 in NUVALI, coupled with the continued improvements in the occupancy of Market! Market! and MarQuee Mall, resulted in a 9 percent expansion in occupied gross leasable area (GLA),’ the company added.

Antonino Aquino, Ayala Land president, expressed confidence that the company’s retail space business will further improve once the company’s other retail space investments come online, since being developed as early as four years ago.

Property consultant Colliers, Inc. has noted how retail space development remains a big market in the Philippines, with major developers expanding in cities outside Metro Manila and in the provinces, driven by limited space within the major districts. Among these areas are General Santos, Cebu, Bacolod, Cavite, Pampanga, and Palawan.

Colliers said that an additional supply of more than 170,000 sq.m. is expected in the retail market in the next six months stat in September last year.

In the case of SM Prime, it recently inaugurated SM City Olongapo, its first mall in Zambales while the company said it is scheduled to open SM City Lanang in Davao City, SM City General Santos in Southern Mindanao, SM City Consolacion in Cebu, SM City San Fernando in Pampanga, and SM Chongqing in China.

‘SM Prime is focused on developing malls in provincial areas of the Philippines, where it aims to open three to four malls every year,’ SM Prime said.

SM Primeis also opening one more mall in Tianjin, China.

By the end of this year, SM Prime will have 146 malls in the Philippines and five in China with an estimated combined GFA of 6.3 million sqm.

Robinsons Land Corp. of the Gokongwei Group, meanwhile is also expanding its malls in Northern Luzon.

Robinsons Land is set to open its Robinsons Place Pangasinan in Calasiao, complimenting its existing malls in the North — Robinsons Ilocos Norte, Robinsons Luisita in Tarlac, and Robinsons Place Angeles and Robinsons Starmills in Pamgpanga.

Robinsons Place Pangasinan is located between Dagupan City and San Carlos City. It will be constructed on a 5-hectare property with a gross floor area of 32,300 sqm and gross leasable area of 22,500 sqm.

Puregold Price Club, Inc. meanwhile announced plans to bring its total stores to 200, from the current 1001, spending P10 billion for the next five years. The company likewise recently said it plans to merge with sister companie S&R Membership Shopping.

In this backdrop, retail space development is expected to continue being robust in the year to come.