SM Prime Holdings Inc., the country’s leading mall developer, is spending P2 billion for the expansion of one of its malls in Quezon City.

According to SM Prime President Hans Sy, the redevelopment of SM City North Edsa will make it the country’s largest mall with 445,000 square meters of gross floor area (GFA), compared to Mall of Asia’s 408,000 square meters.

He added that they are also planning to expand SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City to turn it into the Philippines’ largest mall.

SM Prime chief financial officer Jeffrey Lim said SM City North Edsa currently contributes 12 to 13 percent of the company’s total revenues, a range that is expected to increase significantly with the completion of renovations next year.

Earlier today, SM Prime launched Skygarden in SM City North Edsa, which contains a roof garden connecting the mall’s three buildings. It also has a Skydome for entertainment functions that has a seating capacity of 1,000 people.

According to Lim, about P600 million was spent for the Skygarden. For his part, Sy said they are planning to incorporate the Skygarden into their other malls, starting with SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

‘This is experimental. If it works, we’ll incorporate it into the other malls,’ he said.

SM Prime reported a net income of P1.7 billion in the first quarter, up 7 percent year-on-year, driven by higher rental revenues.

Revenues as of end-March rose 18 percent to P4.7 billion while EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) grew 14 percent to P3.3 billion.

Rental fees accounted for the largest share of SM Prime’s total revenues, increasing 19 percent to P4.1 billion. This was mainly due to the opening of new malls and expansion of existing ones last year.