Shopping mall giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. has successfully raised P4 billion from its issuance of five-year floating rate notes.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SM Prime said the facility was oversubscribed with seven primary institutional lenders subscribing to the issue. “The strong response by the market to this financing illustrates the high credit quality of SM Prime as well as the local market’s confidence in the company, SM Prime said.

The deal was arranged by First Metro Investment Corp. with SB Capital Investment Corp. as co-lead arranger. Proceeds from the issue will be used to fund ongoing capital expenditures and for general corporate requirements.

SM Prime has allotted P7 billion this year for the construction of four new malls and the expansion of two existing malls. The amount still excludes planned landbanking activities and acquisition of other malls.  

SM Prime is opening three malls this year — SM Bacolod, SM Taytay and SM Supercenter Muntinlupa — which will add 353,000 square meters in gross floor area to bring the group’s total GFA to 3.9 million sqm.

SM Prime is also expanding its malls in Cebu City, which will make available 107,000 sqm of GFA; Pampanga (18,000 sqm); and Fairview (23,000 sqm). SM North Edsa is also undergoing renovation.

Among the malls to be developed next year are SM Tarlac, SM Naga, SM Calamba, SM Baliwag and SM Marikina, which will have a total GFA of 387,000 sqm. SM Prime is likewise considering putting up a 3,000-sqm science museum and planetarium at its Mall of Asia along Roxas Boulevard to further increase foot traffic and boost profitability.

Last year, SM Prime posted a net profit of P5.45 billion, up 10 percent from the previous year on revenues of P13.2 billion, which is an improvement of 21 percent.  Among the malls that opened last year were SM City Sta. Rosa, SM City Clark, SM Supercenter Pasig, SM City Lipa, and the largest mall in the country, the SM Mall of Asia, which accounts for about 11 percent of SM Prime’s total GFA. 

SM Prime is a subsidiary of holding company SM Investments Corp., which also has interests in banking, real estate development and retail.