SM PRIME Holdings, Inc., the country’s largest mall operator, grew its first-semester net income by roughly 15% versus the same period last year, buoyed by revenues from new malls and brisk store sales from both its local and China outlets.

“We are pleased to reach our targets for the first half of this year on the back of robust consumer spending and strong economic fundamentals,” Hans T. Sy, SM Prime president, said in a disclosure to the local bourse yesterday.

SM Prime hiked its January to June net income to P4.92 billion from P4.27 billion last year. The growth was faster than the 13.56% rise seen in the first half of 2011.

“Better growth resulted from the opening of new Philippine malls in 2010 and 2011, same store sales of 8%, and the improved performance of SM’s China malls,” the company noted.

Revenues, consisting of rent, cinema ticket sales, and miscellaneous income, rose by 14.64% to P14.57 billion while costs and expenses expanded by 14.70% to P6.79 billion.

“The SM China malls are enjoying healthy increases in rental rates and improvement in occupancy levels. The average occupancy rate for the four malls in China is now at 95%,” SM Prime said.

For the second quarter alone, SM Prime booked a net income of P2.49 billion, up 15.81%. Revenues rose by 13.55% to P7.54 billion from P6.64 billion, year-on-year.

Second-quarter costs and expenses, meanwhile, increased by 13.78% to P3.55 billion from year-ago levels.

For the rest of the year, SM Prime is bullish it can sustain its strong profit performance on the back of an expected surge in sales brought about by the Christmas.

“We look forward to the second half of the year with more confidence in implementing our expansion plans, especially as we move towards the holiday season,” Mr. Sy said.

SM Prime was incorporated in 1994 to develop and operate the SM group’s commercial shopping centers and related businesses.

SM Prime shares rose sharply by 4.34% to P13.94 yesterday. — Franz Jonathan G. de la Fuente