Robust sales

Meanwhile, the country’s dominant shopping mall developer and operator said also on Tuesday that sales surged in some areas after a powerful storm battered Metro Manila over the weekend.

Cora Guidote, SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) vice president for investor relations, said the company’s unit and mall operator SM Prime Holdings Inc. has registered stronger sales in the recent days due to higher consumer purchases in their supermarkets.

“Today is an extra ordinary event. Sales are very strong but it is not sustainable,” Guidote said in a telephone interview.

In the first semester of the year, SMIC’s net income was driven by strong retail sales, as retail merchandising accounted for 39 percent of the total income.

She said, however, that the strong sales, mainly from SM supermarkets located near the hardest-hit cities, were being pull-down by the stores that were shut-down by company after these were battered by tropical storm Ondoy.

“Overall, its make even,” the official said.

Guidote said that SM Prime has temporarily closed six supermarkets, mostly located in Santa Mesa in Manila, Marikina and Cainta, as some stores in country’s capital are in normal operation.

“Stores that have registered stronger sales are Tiendesitas and SM Megamall, and these stores are located near the most affected areas,” she added.

Because of huge demand for basic commodities in the East-part of Metro Manila, Guidote said the mall operator was forced to open SM Marikina even if it was also damaged and left without electric power.

“We [are] operating in Marikina because of generators,” she said.