SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime), one of the leading integrated property companies in Southeast Asia, said its consolidated net income surged 176 percent in the first quarter, citing the extraordinary gain from the sale of marketable securities worth P7.4 billion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), SM Prime said its consolidated net income rose 176 percent to P12.6 billion in the first quarter of the year.

The firm said its profit included the extraordinary gain from the sale of marketable securities worth P7.4 billion.

Excluding the one-time gain, net income grew 14 percent to P5.2 billion in the first quarter of 2015, higher than the 11 percent growth posted in the same period last year.

“2015 promises to be a strong year and the first quarter numbers seem to reflect that. There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic with consumer spending getting a boost from lower oil prices and improved consumer confidence,” SM Prime President Hans T. Sy said.

He added that “the strong economy provides much motivation for us to expand and grow our business more aggressively to take advantage of new opportunities, particularly in the provincial areas.”

Consolidated revenues also increased by 9 percent to P16.7 billion from P15.3 billion in 2014.

“We can grow all areas of business, malls, residences, commercial and tourism-related developments together to achieve synergies,” Sy said.

SM Prime’s rental revenues from retail and commercial spaces, which accounted for 57 percent of the consolidated revenues, grew by 10 percent to P9.4 billion in the first quarter.

The growth was led by the significant increase in rental revenues, primarily from the new malls that opened and the expansion of existing malls in 2013 to 2014.

Growth was also partly driven by the company’s increasing office spaces while same-store rental grew by 7 percent, sustaining the growth posted in 2014.

The mall’s cinemas generated ticket sales of PHP1.0 billion, from P1.1 billion with a slight decrease in blockbuster movies shown in the first quarter of 2015 versus the same period last year.

Meanwhile, amusement and other revenues increased by 32 percent to P900 million in the first quarter of 2015 mainly due to the strong patronage of amusement rides, especially the opening of Sky Ranch Pampanga.

SM Prime’s housing group, which contributed 32 percent to consolidated revenues, recorded a 7 percent gain to P5.4 billion in real estate sales in the first quarter 2015 from P5.0 billion in the same period last year.

This allowed the group to post a 37 percent increase in net income to P1.3 billion in the period under review. The growth was mainly driven by the increase in the sales take-up and higher construction accomplishment of projects launched in 2010 to 2013.

Reservation sales grew by 47 percent year-on-year to 3,721 units in the first quarter of 2015 translating to a 34 percent increase to P9.5 billion in March.