SM INVESTMENTS Corp. (SMIC) grew its consolidated net income by 10% to P8.5 billion in the first quarter, driven by its shopping malls, real estate, and retail businesses.
In a statement on Wednesday, the listed holding company of the country’s richest man Henry Sy reported its consolidated revenues jumped 11% to P95 billion during the January to March period, from P85.4 billion a year ago.
“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 C. DyBuncio was quoted as saying in a statement.
SMIC has core investments in property, banking, and retail, which accounted for 46%, 32%, and 22%, of its first quarter consolidated net profit, respectively.
SM Prime Holdings, Inc., the country’s largest shopping mall operator, saw its profit jump 15% to P7.6 billion in the first three months of the year, while consolidated revenues rose by 14% to P23.4 billion.
SM Prime attributed the higher income to the growing revenue contribution of its mall operations in the provinces, as well as higher reservation sales of its residential projects in Metro Manila.
The shopping mall business accounted for 59% of SM Prime’s overall revenues at P13.9 billion, up 10% year on year. Rental revenues rose 12% to P11.9 billion, boosted by the opening of new malls in the last two years. Same-mall sales, or the performance of malls that have been open for more than a year, grew by 7% for the period.
Revenues from its residential business, led by SM Development Corp., jumped 25% to P7.5 billion. Reservation sales went up 20% to P14.8 billion.
SM Retail, Inc., which includes supermarkets and department stores, posted a 14% rise in net income to P2.6 billion during the first quarter, on the back of a 10% increase in sales to P67.4 billion.
Sales from its speciality retail stores increased 16% to P17.4 billion, fueled by expansion and the introduction of new formats such as Miniso.
BDO Unibank, Inc. reported a net income of P5.865 billion in the first quarter, up 1% from P5.83 billion during the same period a year ago.
Profit derived from loans rose by a fifth year on year to P22.2 billion, after an 18% rise in loan volume to P1.8 trillion.
Shares in SMIC closed 1.66% higher at P920 each on Wednesday.

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