MANILA – SM Prime Holdings Inc. reported a 54 percent increase in its net income in 2015 driven by the continued strong performance of SM malls.

SM said its consolidated net income increased to P28.3 billion last year, inclusive of the P7.4 billion one-time trading gains on marketable securities booked in the first quarter of the year.

On a recurring basis, net income jumped 14 percent in 2015 to P20.9 billion on the back of an 8 percent increase in consolidated revenues to P71.5 billion in the same period.

SM Prime president Hans Sy said the malls’ overall operations helped the firm sustain its overall net income growth in 2015.

“This is a reflection of the overall expansion of the economy that continues to be driven by the 6.2 percent growth in household consumption. We believe we could sustain this growth in 2016 as we continue to focus on enhancing the synergies across our core business units as an integrated property developer,” Sy said in a statement.

Rental revenues from malls and commercial spaces surged at 12 percent to P40.7 billion in 2015 from P36.5 billion in the previous year. Rental revenues from malls and commercial spaces accounted for 57 percent of the consolidated revenues.

The company attributed the strong growth in rental revenue to its expansion across all its business portfolio since 2013.

“Growth can be traced to new malls such as SM Aura Premier, SM City BF Parañaque, Mega Fashion Hall in SM Megamall, SM City Cauayan in Isabela, SM Center Angono in Rizal, SM City San Mateo in Rizal, and the expansion of SM City Bacolod, all of which contributed an additional total gross floor area of 728,000 square meters,” SM Prime said.

SM Prime currently has a 56 malls in the Philippines with total retail space of 7.3 million square meters.

In China, SM Prime has six shopping malls with a Gross Floor Area of 0.9 million square meters including the recently opened SM City Zibo.