Property developer SM Prime Holdings Inc. said Monday third-quarter net income climbed 16 percent to P5.66 billion from the same period last year, boosted by strong revenues from residential and shopping mall businesses.
SM Prime said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the robust third-quarter performance pushed total profit in the first nine months to P20.05 billion, up 15 percent from P17.45 billion a year ago.
Nine-month consolidated revenues increased 12 percent to P64.69 billion from P57.78 billion, while overall operating income grew 16 percent to P30.14 billion from P25.87 billion.
SM Prime attributed the steady growth in revenues to higher rental revenues, improvement in same-mall sales and higher contribution from residential sales.
“SM Prime’s performance in the third quarter is a testament to the buoyant overall economy that benefits the whole property market. The timely expansion of our malls and launches of our residential projects in the provinces are positively contributing to the strong performance of our Company. Given all these, we remain optimistic that we are on track to meet our growth target this year,” SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim said.
Mall revenues, which accounted for 60 percent of total revenues, climbed 10 percent in January to September to P38.58 billion, on higher rentals and expansion of existing malls and opening of new malls.
Same-mall sales posted a healthy 7-percent growth. SM Prime has 65 shopping malls in the Philippines and seven in China.
It plans to open two more malls before the year-ends, including SM Center Lemery in Batangas and SM Center Pulilan in Bulacan.
Meanwhile, the group’s residential business, which accounted for 32 percent of the consolidated revenues, also booked a 10-percent growth in sales to P20.5 billion from P18.66 billion a year earlier. Jenniffer B. Austria
The increase in sales take-up of ready-for-occupancy units and construction accomplishments of SM Development Corp. drove the revenues higher.
Reservation sales in the first nine months also increased 18 percent to P42.08 billion from P35.52 billion, while unit sales rose 3 percent to 12,963 units from 12,579 units in the same period a year ago.
Other businesses, including hotels and conventions and office developments, registered revenue growth of 39 percent to P5.76 billion in the first nine months from P4.13 billion in the same period in 2016.
SM Prime has six office buildings with a gross floor area of 383,000 sqm, six hotels with over 1,500 rooms, four convention centers and three trade halls.