The SM Group said it plans to build a sports academy in Calamba, Laguna, the first of its kind in the Philippines.
“We are looking into another kind of business in Calamba, which would be the first in the Philippines. It’s already approved by the board. We are planning to put up a sports academy,” SM Prime Holdings Inc. president Hans Sy said.
Sy said the company planned to spend about P1 billion to construct a four-hectare sports academy in Laguna.
“The whole study is there already. We are starting to get architects to finalize. We have foreign consultants. We want to have it international standards. In fact if we can invite even an NBA team to come over to have a training program here so we can make sure all the facilities are there,” he added.
Sy said the first sports the proposed academy would cover were the most popular ones such as basketball and volleyball.
“I think tennis is there too. It comes in stages. But it’s just not really going to be sports itself. That we felt that is something we should go into because of course, we want to have sports development but at the same time, [care] about these athletes. What happens to them after their prime years. We want to be able to give them certain education,” he said.
Sy said the project was a sole undertaking of the National University, which SM Group acquired majority ownership in 2008.
“Once this is done, we can go partnership [with the government]. It would be much easier,” he added.
The company plans to open the sports academy by 2018.
SM Investments Corp. earlier reported a net income of P28.4 billion in 2015, as revenues grew 7 percent to P295.9 billion.
Recurring net income, excluding extraordinary items, jumped 13 percent in 2015 as income from operations increased 8.5 percent to P56.9 billion from P52.5 billion in 2014.
The conglomerate said the underlying earnings increase was driven by a 17-percent growth in retail earnings, 14-percent growth in property recurring net income and 10-percent rise in bank net income.