SM Prime Holdings Inc., the largest Philippine shopping mall operator, said sales and profit growth probably slowed in the first quarter amid rising costs of fuel and commodities including rice.

The cost of oil has risen by more than half in the past year in the Philippines, and rice, a staple for Filipinos, increased by almost half, according to government data.

SM Prime has 30 malls across the Philippines, including the nation’s largest shopping center, Mall of Asia.

‘It’s too early to say consumer spending has slowed from high prices,” President Hans Sy said today in an interview in Manila.

‘We are still experiencing growth although not as fast as last year. Remittances haven’t also slowed.” SM Prime faces accelerating inflation, now at a 20-month high, which may hurt retail spending.

The Manila-based company is also betting on remittances, or funds sent home by overseas Filipinos, to maintain spending at its shopping malls.

About 15 cents of every U.S. dollar sent home by overseas Filipinos are spent in SM Prime malls, according to Alex Pomento, Manila-based strategist at Macquarie Group Ltd. Remittances, equivalent to about one-tenth of the 7 billion economy, rose an annual 16 percent in February to a four-month high of .26 billion.

SM Prime will spend 6 billion pesos this year to build three malls and upgrade two existing ones in the Philippines, Sy said.

An additional 1 billion pesos will be spent to add to the three malls in China that SM Prime is acquiring from the Sy family, he said.

SM Prime plans to add between three and four malls in China in the next five years, Sy said.

He said the malls in China will not make 10 percent of SM Prime’s profit after the expansion.