SM Prime Holdings Inc., the country’s leading shopping mall operator and developer, is aggressively expanding its operations in the Philippines and China.

SM Prime Holdings president Hans Sy told reporters following the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting the company would spend P33 billion over the next fine years by building three to five malls a year in the country.

SM Prime Holdings has allotted P6 billion for capital expenditures this year as it plans to open three shopping malls namely SM Rosales, SM Baliuag and SM Marikina.

SM Prime Holdings executive vice president and chief finance officer Jeffrey Lim said the company would borrow P3 billion to partially finance this years capital expenditure. The balance of P3 billion would be financed by internally generated funds.

The company also plans to construct three to four malls in China over the next five years. On the average, construction of one shopping mall in China could reach over P1 billion.

Lim said while the company was making its move in China, SM Prime Holding’s growth would still primarily come from local operators.

He said China’s revenue contribution to the company’s total operations would not be more than three percent this year while its net income would not be more than 10 percent over the next 10 years.

“This is because the malls in China are smaller compared to malls here in the Philippines. At the same time the China malls are still relatively new. However there’s a lot of potential for growth,�? Sy said.

Average size of the three China malls ranges from 140,000 square meters while the size of SM Megamall in Ortigas, for instance, is 330,000 square.

SM Prime Holdings last year acquired three shopping malls in China owned by the Sy family through a share swap agreement.