SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime), the Philippines’ leading integrated property company, said its consolidated net income surged 70 percent to P22.9 billion in the first nine months of 2015 amid the expansion of malls and real estate projects in the country.
 
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said this includes P7.4 billion in one-time trading gains on marketable securities booked in the first quarter of the year.
 
“SM Prime’s expansion across all its various business portfolios since 2013 has driven its strong financial performance this year,” SM Prime president Hans T. Sy said.
 
He added that “we expect SM Prime’s growth to be sustained as we continue to increase our mall footprint by 13 percent this year. We are excited to launch SM Seaside Cebu later this year, a landmark project in the Visayas region. We see Metro Cebu as one of our important growth corridors following our growth track in Metro Manila.”
 
On a recurring basis, net income increased by 15 percent to P15.5 billion in the same period. Recurring income growth for the third quarter was likewise 15 percent to P4.2 billion versus the third quarter in 2014.
 
Consolidated revenues rose 9 percent to P52.2 billion in the first nine months. In the third quarter, revenues likewise increased 13 percent to P16.2 billion, much higher than the 8% growth posted in the first half of 2015.
 
Rental revenues from retail and commercial spaces, which contributed 56 percent to the consolidated revenues, increased by 11 percent to P29.4 billion from P26.4 billion in the first nine months of 2015 due mainly to the rising contribution from the new malls and the expansion of shopping spaces in existing malls in 2013 and 2014.
 
Rental growth also came from the opening of the FiveE-comCenter, with a GFA of almost 130,000 sqm at Mall of Asia Complex with 97 percent of the space leased awarded.
 
Meanwhile, same-store rental growth remained at 7 percent, maintaining the growth posted since 2012.
 
On the other hand, SM Prime’s real estate sales, which accounts for 32 percent of the consolidated revenues, grew by 4 percent to P16.6 billion from P16.0 billion in the same period last year due to the increase in the sales take-up and higher construction accomplishment of SMDC projects launched in 2010 to 2013.
 
For its part, SM Development Corproation alone posted a net income increase of 23 percent to P3.8 billion during the nine-month period from P3.1 billion.
 
Meanwhile, cinema and event ticket sales, which accounted for 6.5 percent of consolidated revenues, registered a growth of 4 percent in the first nine months to P3.4 billion.
 
Other revenues, composed of amusement income from rides, bowling and ice skating operations, merchandise sales from snack-bars and sale of food and beverages in hotels stood at P2.8 billion, up 30 percent from P2.1 billion.