The Philippines’ largest retailer will launch a record number of shopping malls this year, including a joint venture with a local government that will house a public market. Jeffrey Lim, SM Prime Holdings Inc. executive vice president and chief finance officer, told reporters that the mall developer would roll out six new malls in Masinag, Antipolo; San Fernando and Apalit in Pampanga; Consolacion, Cebu; Sucat, Paranaque; and Dasmarinas, Cavite.

The new malls will translate to about 400,000 square meters of gross leasable space.

Lim said the six mall openings this year will be a record in terms of number. Its biggest launch in terms of gross leasable area was in 2006 when it opened Mall of Asia in Pasay City, its largest in the country.

SM Prime has also started the construction of a shopping center in General Santos City and its second mall in Davao, all set to begin commercial operations in 2012.

For its mall in Dasmarinas, SM Prime has entered into a partnership with the local government, allowing the company to lease a two-hectare property for its mall, which will have a public market in the basement.

“We pay them [local government] rental of the property. On top of that, in a way, we can improve the service and quality and we will be able to maintain the area,” said Lim, adding that it offered the local government an unsolicited proposal for this particular venture.

SM Prime will establish a hypermarket and some food stands in the ground floor and will lease the second floor to third party tenants. The top floor will be a parking area.

The company has yet to decide on a name for this particular venture, which is expected to open in the fourth quarter of the year.

The success of the P500-million Dasmarinas mall will determine if SM Prime will pursue more public market partnership projects with local governments in the future.

“Public markets are usually rundown now. Those local governments have the funds to redevelop [the market] but they have other priorities in providing basic services to the people,” Lim said.

This year, SM Prime will spend P20.1 billion, of which P9 billion will be allocated for the construction of its malls in Chongqing and Zibo and payment of the land in Tianjin. The remaining P11 billion will be set aside for the development of its new malls.

Last year, SM Prime opened five malls in Tarlac, Novaliches, Calamba and San Pablo in Laguna, and its fourth mall in mainland China, which is located in the city of Suzhou.

SM Prime’s nine-month net income grew 11 percent to P5.6 billion from P5.1 billion in the same period last year on the back of new mall openings and same-store rental growth.

Its shares lost P0.02 to close at P11.30 each on Friday.