SM Prime Holdings Inc., the country’s largest shopping mall developer and operator, has earmarked P7 billion next year for the construction of four new malls and the expansion of SM Fairview and SM Cebu.

SM Prime president Hans Sy said the new malls will be constructed in Bacolod City; Baliwag, Bulacan; Taytay, Manila; and Muntinlupa.

Sy said the 2007 capital budget excludes land acquisition.

Jeffrey Lim, vice-president for finance of SM Prime, said the projects will be funded with a combination of borrowings and internally-generated cash.

SM Prime earlier said it intends to build four to five malls annually for the next three years in 14 locations including Marikina, Parañaque, Tarlac and Pangasinan.

SM Bacolod is slated for opening in the first quarter of next year.

The company opened last month SM City Lipa in Batangas, bringing the number of SM Prime’s malls to 27.

Launched earlier were SM Supercenter Pasig, SM City Sta. Rosa, SM City Clark, and SM Mall of Asia, the group’s biggest so far.

SM Prime expects its flagship Mall of Asia which opened in May, to help net profit rise by up to nine percent this year from 2005. Net profit is seen to reach P5.3 billion to P5.4 billion from P4.97 billion in 2005.

Mall of Asia, which was construted at a cost of P7 billion, will account for about two percent of net profit this year, and 10 percent of annual profits in the long-term.

Rental revenues from new malls and cinema ticket sales boosted SM Prime net profit in the first half of the year by nine percent to P2.6 billion from P2.4 billion in the same period last year. Total revenues grew 17 percent to P6.09 billion from P5.2 billion.

The Sy family was earlier reported to have acquired majority control of a 430-hectare property in Boracay Island. The Alba family who owns the property will retain a 30 percent stake.

Initial plans for the property include the establishment of another SM mall and a recreation area and a spa resort to cater to tourists visiting the island resort.