SM Prime Holdings Inc., the country’s largest integrated property developer, said it plans to open seven shopping malls in 2017 to bring total leasable area to 7.95 million square meters.
SM Investments Corp., the holding company of the SM Group, said in a presentation during a recent forum the mall openings would add 293,930 sq m to leasable space mostly in provincial areas.
The biggest mall set to open in 2017 is SM Premier Cagayan de Oro with 81,133 sq m, followed by SM Puerto Princesa with 65,073 sq m and SM Urdanata with 46,570 sq m.
Other malls slated to open next year are SM Center Ormoc (28,408 sq m), SM Tuguegarao (25,890 sq m), SM Center Ormoc (28,408 sq m) and Cherry SM Antipolo (22,777 sq m).
Metro Manila malls account for 44 percent of total SM mall space, followed by other parts of Luzon with 35 percent, Visayas with 14 percent and Mindanao with 7 percent.
SM Prime expects to have 67 malls nationwide by end-2017.
SM Prime had a total of 58 malls in the Philippines and six in China as of end-June this year.
The company is scheduled to open two malls before the end of the year, including Cherry SM Congressional in Quezon City and SM City East Ortigas in Pasig City to end the year with 60 malls.
Meanwhile, SM Investments is also expanding its office portfolio with a target to have 610,000 sqm of office space by 2020. The company currently has 371,000 sqm of office leasable space across six completed buildings.
The company is constructing more office buildings near existing malls, including Clark in Pampanga, Sta Rosa in Laguna and Iloilo City.
SM Investments is led by tycoon Henry Sy Sr., the country’s richest person with a net worth of $13.7 billion, according to Forbes Asia Magazine.
Aside from malls and office developments, Sy also has investments in banking, real estate and tourism-related businesses.
SM Investments posted a consolidated net income of P15 billion in the first half of 2016, up by 11 percent from a year ago. Excluding extraordinary items, recurring income grew 8 percent.
Consolidated revenues rose 8.5 percent to P151.1 billion in the first half from P139.2 billion in the same period last year.
