Mall developer SM Prime Holdings Inc. posted gains from new malls and expansions in the first quarter, and expressed confidence yesterday growth will continue to come from expansion and building of new ones as the positive sentiment on the economy and consumer spending continues to improve.
SM Prime president Hans Sy said that the continued growth in remittances which is spurring consumer spending will add to the growth of the company by pursuing expansion plans vigorously.
SM Prime posted a net income of P1.9 billion in the first quarter, which was 10 percent higher than the P1.7-billion profit a year ago while revenues grew 15 percent to P5.4 billion.
“We are encouraged by the auspicious start of 2010. We will more vigorously pursue our expansion plans which support our overall positive sentiment with regard to the economy and consumer spending,” Sy said.
He added the recent spate of power outages had a minimal impact on mall operations.
A total amount of P12 billion will be allotted for capital expenditure this year, SM Prime executive vice president Jeffrey Lim said.
Meanwhile, SM Prime lease proceeds from its malls in China continue to grow by 22 percent in the first quarter.
Rental fees accounted for the largest share of SM Prime’s consolidated revenues, reaching P4.6 billion, for a year-on-year growth of 13 percent.
This came from a mix of the five percent growth in same store rentals and the increased revenues from new malls and the expansion of mature malls in 2009.
Cinema ticket sales during the quarter jumped 28 percent, mainly due to the sharp increase in IMAX receipts on the 3-D showing of Avatar and other popular movies screened.
The P8-billion budget will be for the domestic expansion while P4 billion will be spent for malls in China.
Lim added the company plans to open four malls this year — SM City Novaliches in Quezon City, SM City Tarlac, and SM City Calamba and SM City San Pablo both in Laguna. In China, SM Suzhou, the fourth mall in China, is scheduled to open on the last quarter of the year.