NOTWITHSTANDING the tough business environment, shopping-mall operator SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPH) said its net income for the first nine months of the year grew 9.3 percent to P4.7 billion on the back of a 10.3-percent increase in consolidated revenues amounting to P12.8 billion.

For the third quarter alone, the listed firm’s net income jumped 8.5 percent to P1.53 billion, while revenues went up 15.4 percent to P4.5 billion.

SMPH president Hans Sy said the January to September results already included the operations of the three SM malls in China following their acquisition late last year. The SM China malls are in the cities of Xiamen and Jinjiang in southern China and Chengdu in central China.

“It is very encouraging for us to see steady growth in SM Prime’s operations this year at the back of a very challenging business climate. We feel fortunate that Asia appears to be in a much better position to weather the global financial turmoil,” he said.

Rental fees still accounted for the largest share of SMPH’s nine-month consolidated revenues with P11.1 billion. The increase came from both store rental growth, which increased 5 percent, and from additional floor space generated by new malls, namely, SM City Marikina in September this year, SM City Bacolod, SM City Taytay and SM Supercenter Muntinlupa in 2007.

In addition, the existing malls—SM City Pampanga, SM City Cebu and SM Mall of Asia—were expanded.

Combined, the new malls and expansions added 475,000 square meters to SM Prime’s total gross floor area. The average occupancy rate for the new malls now stands at 94 percent.

Meanwhile, cinema ticket sales fell 7 percent to P1.3 billion from P1.4 billion in 2007 due to shortage of blockbuster movies during the period.

For the remainder of the year, the company is set to open SM Supercenter Rosales in Pangasinan and SM City Baliuag in Bulacan.

The new atrium of SM Megamall is also expected to be open for business in November. SM City North Edsa and SM City Fairview are also currently undergoing expansion, due for completion in 2009.

By the end of this year, SMPH will have 33 malls nationwide.