The SM group, the Philippines’ largest mall operator, will be putting up five more shopping centers in the country, including another one in China.

Additional malls will be built in Calamba, Laguna; Novaliches, Quezon City; Tarlac; Masinag, Antipolo City; and San Pablo, Laguna, bringing its total to 40.

It will also construct another mall in China, its fourth so far, Corazon Guidote, SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), said in a briefing.

Upon completion, the five local malls will add 279,228 square meters in the company’s current gross floor area, SMIC, the SM group’s holding company, said.

An estimated P12.1 billion will be allotted to build and develop these malls, SMIC said.

The amount forms part of its P40.6 billion capital expenditure budget for next year.

Of this figure, P17.4 billion will be allocated for SMIC’s real-estate unit, which is tasked to develop 14 real-estate projects.

These projects include a ferry terminal and causeway in Hamilo coast in Batangas, among others.

SMIC’s retail unit will spend P6.2 billion to open 25 stores while its hotel and entertainment unit is seen to spend some P4.9 billion for its hotel and entertainment unit.

Seventy percent of the company’s capital expenditures will be sourced internally while the rest will come from “outside the group,’ Jose T. Sio, SMIC executive vice president and chief finance said.

The company “will be opportunistic when it comes to borrowings,’ Sio said. “If somebody offers us a better rate, we’ll get it.’

Shares of SMIC fell five pesos to P322.50. – GMANews.TV