The country’s largest mall developer said its net income in the first half grew on account of the increased revenues from its newly opened shopping centers and improved consumer demand. In a statement, SM Prime Holdings Inc. said its consolidated net income grew by 10 percent in the first six months to P3.8 billion from P3.4 billion in the same period last year.

Consolidated revenues rose 17 percent to P11.3 billion from P9.6 billion during the first semester of 2009. “The encouraging results delivered by SM Prime validate our positive sentiment on the economy, which is further bolstered by robust consumer spending,” Hans Sy, SM Prime president, said.

“In that light, we look to the second half of the year with more optimism in executing our expansion plans. We aim to offer more avenues for high quality yet affordable products and services, for which the SM brand is known,” Sy added.

In the first half, rentals continued to be the biggest contributor to total revenues as it grew by 13 percent to P9.5 billion from P8.4 billion. The growth was attributed to the strength of the consumer and remittance sectors and the added space resulting from the opening of new malls last year.

Cinema ticket sales from January to June jumped 47 percent to P1.4 billion from P0.9 billion because of the marked increase in the number of blockbuster movies shown this year.

Operating expenses during the first six months rose 18 percent to P5.3 billion from P4.5 billion as administrative and depreciation expenses increased. Income from operations also went up by 17 percent to P6.0 billion from P5.1 billion a year ago.

Its three malls in China contributed P0.6 billion in gross revenues, or 5 percent of total consolidated revenues as rental revenues continued to grow at a hefty pace of 26 percent.

Following the opening of SM City Tarlac in April, SM Prime will launch later this year SM City Novaliches in Quezon City and SM City San Pablo and SM City Calamba, both in Laguna.

The company is also set to open its fourth SM mall in mainland China, which will be located in the city of Suzhou.

By year-end, the company is expected to have 40 malls in the Philippines, with an estimated total gross floor area of 4.7 million square meters.

SM Prime shares rose from P10.66 on Tuesday to P10.74 on Wednesday. KRISTA ANGELA M. MONTEALEGRE