SM INVESTMENTS CORP. said Monday it was planning to invest P40.6 billion more in its retail, shopping malls, property, and hotel and entertainment businesses next year.

The holding firm of the country’s richest man, Henry Sy, SMIC reported a 14-percent year-on-year rise in its nine-month profit to P10.8 billion on the back of strong growth of its retail and property businesses.

SMIC said it was investing more in these concerns for future growth.

The budget for next year is higher than the P32-billion programmed spending for this year, of which P25 billion was meant for fresh domestic investment and the remaining P7 billion was earmarked for the development of new malls in China. It plans to open one new mall yearly in China until 2012.

“We believe in the future of the Philippine economy. Our balance sheet is very strong and of the P40.6-billion budget we’re talking about, only 30 percent will come from outside while 70 percent will be internally generated,” SMIC chief finance officer Jose Sio said in a briefing.

Depending on capital market opportunities, Sio said SMIC was open to raising the 30-percent external requirement—about P12.2 billion—from the sale of debt paper or equity. But at present, Sio said SMIC’s cash hoard of P47 billion provided enough leeway to expand even without new borrowings.

The capital spending planned for next year included a P12.1-billion budget for SM Prime Holdings Inc., which is set to open six new malls next year, including one in China. This will bring its total shopping mall network to 41 in the Philippines and four in China, SMPH senior vice president Jeffrey Lim said.

The biggest chunk of next year’s budget, worth about P17.4 billion, will go to residential, office and leisure estate property development, SMIC chief of investor relations Cora Guidote said.

Lined up for 2010 are 14 new residential projects and office towers such as the Two E-com and Cyber buildings. Also included is Costa del Hamilo, its tourism unit.

An additional P6.2-billion investment will be made in the high volume, low-margin retail business, currently the biggest contributor of revenue and profit. About 25 new stores will be added to the retail network next year.

The remaining P4.9 billion will go to the hotel and entertainment division, the fifth and newest business unit under the SMIC group. This will be used to develop Hotel Radisson and new sports arenas in the Mall of Asia and SMX Cebu.

This business unit was formed to strengthen synergies within the group by attracting additional foot traffic to SM malls and stores, unlocking more value from existing land assets as well as creating new avenues for SM brand’s existing franchises.

SMIC’s consolidated revenue for January to September amounted to P110.9 billion, up by 14 percent from a year ago. This was fueled by a 7-percent growth in retail sales to P84.6 billion.

SMPH’s contribution grew by 14 percent to P14.6 billion over a year ago.

Group-wide cash flow as measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) reached P23.5 billion, up by 29 percent from year-ago level.

For every P1 of equity put in by stockholders for the period, the return was nearly P0.14, up by 5 percent from year-ago level.

In terms of revenue share, the retail business was the dominant player with an 81-percent share, followed by the mall and real estate businesses which accounted for 11 percent and 5 percent respectively. Revenues from the two banking units Banco de Oro Unibank and China Banking Corp. are not included in the consolidation.

In terms of net income, the retail unit contributed 34 percent of the total. Shopping malls accounted for 27 percent while real estate and tourism had a share of 12 percent. The remaining 27 percent came mainly from equity in net earnings of BDO and China Bank.