Shopping mall giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. plans to borrow P4 billion next year to fund the continued development of new malls and the expansion of existing ones. SM Prime executive vice president Jeffrey Lim said the company needs P6 billion to fund its capital expenditures next year.

He said SM Prime expects a total of 33 malls by the end of 2008 from the existing 30. By end 2007, total gross floor area for all SM Prime malls is projected to reach 3.9 million square meters.

In addition to opening new malls, SM Prime is also expanding existing malls  such as Cebu and SM North EDSA. It recently expanded SM City San Fernando in  Pampanga with the opening of Annex 3 which added 17,439  sqm. of gross  floor area (GFA) to the main mall and expanded the mall’s GFA to 128,089 sqm.  SM Prime posted a net income of P4.3 billion for the   nine-month this year period, 11 percent higher than the previous level of P7.9 billion. 

Gross revenues grew 19 percent to P11.2 billion as SM Prime benefits from its continued mall  expansion program. Rental revenues for the nine-month period increased 19 percent to P9.2 billion, while cinema ticket sales posted a 21 percent growth to P1.4 billion. 

Operating expenses in the same period increased 21 percent to  P5 billion from P4.1 billion, effectively boosting the growth in SM Prime’s P6.2 billion operating income to 18 percent. SM Prime president Hans T. Sy said the company is on track to meeting its full-year target and expects a vibrant Christmas holiday season to boost its fourth quarter results.