MANILA — Property conglomerate SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime) booked a 13-percent increase in profit in 2014 on the back of higher revenues.
In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Henry Sy-led SM Prime said its consolidated net income reached Php18.4 billion last year from Php16.3 billion in 2013.
“We expect this performance to be surpassed this year as the company pursues its 2015 expansion plans with the opening of four new malls, the completion of FiveE-comCenter and the launch of five new housing projects,” SM Prime President Hans T. Sy said.
Sy said such developments complement the expansion of existing malls and on-going construction of high-rise residential development projects.
SM Prime’s rental revenues from retail and commercial spaces, which accounted for 55 percent of consolidated revenues, grew by 13 percent to Php36.5 billion in 2014 from Php32.2 billion in 2013.
It attributed the higher rental revenue mostly to the new malls that opened and the expansion of existing malls in 2013 and 2014.
These are SM Aura Premier in Taguig, SM City BF Parañaque, Mega Fashion Hall in SM Megamall in Mandaluyong, SM City Cauayan in Isabela province and SM Center Angono in Rizal province, which have a combined total gross floor area of 564,000 square meters.
SM Prime’s housing group, which accounted for 33 percent of consolidated revenues, posted a seven-percent increase to Php22.2 billion in real estate sales in 2014.
The mall’s cinemas generated ticket sales of Php4.3 billion in 2014, up by 14 percent compared to the previous year, driven by the opening of additional digital cinemas in the new malls and expanded malls and by the launch of international and local blockbuster movies.
SM Prime’s consolidated costs and expenses increased by eight percent to Php38.6 billion in 2014 compared with last year’s Php35.7 billion.
The bulk of the increase came from depreciation expenses attributed to new malls added in the past 12 months.