(05 May 2009. Pasay City, Philippines.) SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime), the Philippines’ dominant shopping mall developer and operator, reported sustained growth in earnings despite earlier expectations of an economic slowdown that could affect consumer spending.

For the first quarter of 2009, SM Prime announced a 7% increase in its consolidated net income to Php1.7 billion from January to March 2009, as compared to Php1.6.billion during the same period in 2008. Revenues for the first three months of the year jumped 18% to Php4.7 billion, while EBITDA grew 14% to Php3.3 billion, for an EBITDA margin of 69%.

SM Prime’s first quarter results include the operations of the three SM malls in

China, following their acquisition in early 2008. The SM China malls are located in the cities of Xiamen and Jinjiang in Southern China, and Chengdu in Central China.

SM Prime President Mr. Hans T. Sy said, “We are very pleased by the resilience that our malls are experiencing despite earlier prognosis of a more challenging economic environment.  The SM malls continue to enjoy high foot traffic and healthy sales growth.  As we continue to focus on offering quality and value for money products and services, we also closely monitor the effects of the global financial crisis on local demand, especially on consumer spending. We are hopeful that moving forward it will have much less of an impact in Asia.”

In the first three months of 2009, rental fees still accounted for the largest share of SM Prime’s consolidated revenues, reaching Php4.1 billion, for a year-on-year growth of 19%. This was due mainly to new malls and mall expansions in 2008. The new malls opened last year were SM City Marikina, SM City Rosales, and SM City Baliwag. In addition, mall expansions were completed in The Annex at SM City North Edsa, and The Atrium at SM Megamall. Put together, the new malls and expansions in 2008 added approximately 353,000 square meters (sqm) to the company’s total gross floor area (GFA).

Meanwhile, cinema ticket sales during the quarter improved by 8%, due to an increase in the number of local blockbuster movies such as “You Changed My Life”, “Ang Tanging Ina N’yong Lahat”, and “When I Met You”, among others.

Operating expenses for the period increased 23%, to Php2.2 billion, from Php1.8 billion in 2008, largely because of the new and expanded malls. Income from operations registered a 14% growth from Php2.2 billion in 2008 to Php2.5 billion in 2009.

On 01 May 2009, SM Prime inaugurated SM City Naga in Camarines Sur. It is the company’s first mall in the Bicol region and also its first to be opened this year. SM City Naga brings to 34 the total number of SM Prime malls in the Philippines, with a total GFA of 4.4 million sqm.

For the rest of 2009, the company will open SM City Rosario in Cavite, and SM City Pamplona in Las Piñas. It will also unveil the SkyGarden, which is an innovative expansion of SM City North EDSA, and complete the expansion of SM City Rosales in Pangasinan. By the end of this year, SM Prime expects to have 36 malls in the country, with an estimated GFA of 4.9 million sqm.   

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For further information, please contact:

Mr. Jeffrey C. Lim
Executive Vice President
SM Prime Holdings, Inc.
Email: [email protected]
Tel no: 831-1000 loc. 1401

Date: 

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Source: 

SMPH, Company Release