Sy-owned conglomerate SM Investments Corp. plans to refinance domestic debt worth P5 billion in the  next six months to save on interest cost, a top company official said on Thursday.

Jose Sio, chief finance officer at SM Investments, told reporters on the sidelines of a business conference that the company has already refinanced P10 billion worth of debt in the past year. Local interest rates  reached historical lows in  recent months, although yield have slowly risen in the past two weeks due to  market volatility related to uncertainty over the direction of US interest rates.

Mr. Sio also said the company, owned by one of the richest men, Henry Sy. Sr., was planning to fold three  malls in China operated by the Sy family into the group’s mall subsidiary, SM Prime Holdings., Inc. A decision would be made in the third quarter on whether the Chinese malls would be integraed in the group, listed as a property trust in a regional market such as Hong Kong or Singapore, or whether shares would be offered to the puble, Mr. Sio said.

Now Second Biggest

SM Investments, which has risen to second spot in the Philippines’ list of biggest publicly held firms from  seventh place in less than a year, has interest in retail, banking, food and drinks manufacturing, real  estate and leisure development.

SM investments has a market capitalization of US$ 5.3 billion. At yesterday;s trade , shares of the  company jumped 4.79% to end at 437.50, outpacing the main index, which gained 2.39%.