SM INVESTMENTS Corp. is poised to spend like never before this year — a record P75 billion to P80 billion — piggybacking on the strength of consumer spending and prospects for sustained Philippine economic growth.

SM Senior Vice-President for Investor Relations Cora P. Guidote told reporters last Friday the conglomerate’s capital spending for the year will hit “between P75 billion and P80 billion.”

SM, the country’s biggest conglomerate by market capitalization, spent an actual P70 billion last year, according to Ms. Guidote. That’s lower than the P80-billion capital expenditure budget it set for 2014.

SM — which has core businesses in property, banking and retail — expects to benefit from robust consumer spending as a result of falling oil prices and election-related spending in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, Ms. Guidote said.

“The odds are in our favor. Barring any climate disturbance, our economy will be very good,” she added.

The Philippine economy grew 6.1% in 2014, capping three successive years of above-6% growth. That growth pace, however, fell below the government’s full-year target of 6.5%-7.5%.

The government expects the Philippine economy to expand at a faster pace of 7%-8% this year.

TIANJIN MALL

Ms. Guidote said mall developer SM Prime Holdings, Inc. is pushing back the opening of the SM group’s biggest mall in Tianjin, China to 2016. SM Tianjin was originally scheduled to be launched this year.

“They want to make sure they do it right. It’s better to do it right at the start than to make any mistake,” she said.

Upon opening, SM Tianjin will have a gross floor area (GFA) of 540,000 square meters, bigger than SM Megamall, the company’s biggest mall in the Philippines, with a GFA of 530,000 square meters, Ms. Guidote said.

SM Prime will hold a grand launch for its SM Zibo in China this year after a soft opening late last year. Apart from its expansion in the world’s second biggest economy, SM Prime is launching four to five new malls in the Philippines this year.

The conglomerate’s other retail venture is Alfamart, a partnership with one of Indonesia’s biggest mini-market chain operators. So far, the joint venture has built a network of 22 Alfamart stores outside Metro Manila since the rollout of the stores started in the middle of 2014.

“We’re still looking at profitability. It’s a matter of looking at the sustainability of the stores,” Ms. Guidote said.