Property developer and shopping mall operator SM Prime Holdings Inc. said Monday net income dropped 48 percent in the first nine months to P14.4 billion from a year ago, even as the company reported a slight recovery from the impact of the pandemic in the third quarter.
SM Prime said nine-month consolidated sales reached P60.7 billion, down 29 percent from P85 billion in the same period last year.
“SM Prime’s core businesses, primarily its malls, showed slight recovery as the government started to reopen more industries to help the economy going in to the second half of the year. We have also implemented tighter controls on our expenses achieving a major reduction in operating expenses quarter on quarter,” SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.
“Nevertheless, we continue to provide further assistance to our various stakeholders as well as to the programs led by the government in containing the spread of the virus and strengthening back our economy,” Lim said.
The company said the mall business posted sales of P18.3 billion in the nine-month period, down 57 percent from P42 billion a year earlier.
The group’s residential business under SM Development Corp. booked a 7-percent increase in nine-month revenues to P34.2 billion from P31.9 billion in the same period last year as operating income increased 13 percent to P14.1 billion from P12.5 billion.
SMDC’s reservation sales reached P66.7 billion in the first three quarters, slightly up from last year’s P66.4 billion.
SM Prime said that with the resumption of construction of new and expanding projects, it was expecting to add more units in its inventory while continuously offering ready-for-occupancy units of 1,650 units, down from 2,292 units a year ago.
Meanwhile, the company’s commercial property business booked P3.7 billion in revenues in the first three quarters. The group’s hotel and convention center business registered P1.3 billion in revenues as it started to cater to wider market with the easing of quarantine measures in key areas in the Philippines.
“As we work together to bounce back from these challenges, SM Prime will stay committed to finding solutions to serve the ever-changing needs and aspirations of its customers, while providing growth to all our stakeholders and maintaining a safe and healthy environment for everyone,” Lim said.
The share price of SM Prime fell 0.87 percent Monday to close at P34.20.