SM Prime Holdings, Inc. is on track to achieve its five-year road map that targets to double revenues and profits by 2018, supported by its aggressive mall and residential expansion.

The holding firm for country’s richest man Henry Sy, Sr.’s property investments is currently on the last year of this five-year vision, which should see SM Prime book double the P16.3-billion net income and P59.8-billion revenue it had in 2013.

“We are on schedule to meet the five-year program unveiled in 2013. The growth will be driven by malls and residential operation complemented by offices and hotels and convention centers,” SM Prime said in a presentation to investors for the month of January.

For its mall expansion, SM Prime ended 2017 with a total of 9.3 million square meters (sq.m.) in gross floor area (GFA). Of this, 86% are covered by the 67 malls in the Philippines, while 14% come from seven malls in China.

This brings the company closer to its target of 10.5 million sq.m by end-2018.

SM Prime disclosed it has eight malls lined up in the following years, primarily located outside of Metro Manila. The company will be opening in the following locations: SM Center Imus in Cavite, SM City Legazpi in Albay, SM City Urdaneta in Pangasinan, SM City Telabastagan in San Fernando, Pampanga, SM City Ormoc in Leyte, SM City Dagupan, SM Moonwalk Parañaque, and SM Center Cabuyao in Laguna.

“New malls are geared towards provincial cities,” the company said.

SM Development Corp. (SMDC), which manages the company’s residential business, launched a total of 117,424 units across 54 projects under the primary home component in 2017. This marks a 15% increase in number of units year on year.

SMDC would have to launch 11 more projects in 2018 to hit its target of 65 projects by the end of 2018, for a total of 132,424 units.

For the leisure component, SMDC had a total of 16 projects by the end of last year with 2,363 units. The company looks to end 2018 with three more launches for a total of 19, composed of 2,600 units.

SM Prime’s commercial business had a total of six towers in 2017 covering 0.38 million sq.m., the same figure as in 2016. The company is currently constructing ThreeE-Com Center within the Mall of Asia complex, which will be completed in 2018. The tower will add a GFA of 130,000 sq.m., up to SM Prime’s target of 0.51 million sq.m. and seven towers by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the company has already reached its target of 1,510 rooms and six project for hotels and convention centers. These include six hotels, four SMX Convention Centers, three Megatrade Halls with over 37,000 sq.m. of leasable space.

SM Prime’s earnings grew by 14.9% in the first nine months of 2017 to P20 billion, against the P17.5 billion in the first three quarters of 2016. The company’s revenues climbed by 12% to P64.7 billion in the same period. — Arra B. Francia

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