Conglomerate SM Investments Corp. said consolidated net income climbed 10 percent in the first three months to P8.5 billion from P7.7 billion in the same period last year, as the group’s property and retail businesses delivered strong results.
SMIC said in a disclosure to the stock exchange property accounted for 46 percent of the group’s consolidated net income, followed by banks at 32 percent and retail at 22 percent.
First-quarter consolidated revenues also rose 11 percent to P95 billion from P85.4 billion in the same quarter in 2017.
“We continue to build on our strong 2017 performance with revenues rising faster in the first quarter this year. Looking ahead, we remain cautiously optimistic about underlying consumption trends despite inflationary pressures,” SMIC president Frederic DyBuncio said.
Retail operations under SM Retail Inc., which consist of both food and non-food, booked a net income of P2.6 billion in January to March, up 14 percent from a year earlier. Total sales reached P67.4 billion, an increase of 10 percent year-on-year.
SM Retail had 2,081 stores as of end-March, including 59 SM Stores, 1,283 specialty retail stores, 53 SM Supermarkets, 47 SM Hypermarkets, 186 Savemore, 46 WalterMart and 407 Alfamart stores.
Revenues from SM Retail’s specialty retail stores grew 16 percent to P17.4 billion, in part driven by expansion and new formats such as Miniso, which had 48 stores at the end of the first quarter.
Property arm SM Prime Holdings, Inc. posted a 15-percent growth in net income in the first three months to P7.6 billion, as consolidated revenues rose 14 percent to P23.4 billion.
Banking units BDO Unibank Inc. and China Banking Corp. also contributed strongly to the group’s positive first-quarter results.
BDO posted a net income of P5.9 billion in the first quarter, steady from a year ago while China bank booked a 2-percent growth in net income to P1.5 billion.
Total assets of SM grew 9 percent to P972.1 billion as of end-March.
SMIC earmarked P90 billion in capital expenditures for 2018 to fund the expansion of retail, banking and property businesses.