Posted on March 03, 2014 10:30:10 PM [
BusinessWorld Online ]
DAVAO CITY -- SM Prime Holdings, Inc.
will have six shopping malls operating in Mindanao by end of 2016, a company
official said in a recent interview here.
Debbie A. Go, assistant vice-president for mall operations, said that by
2016, the company will have added two more malls, namely: its second mall in
Cagayan de Oro and the one being built in Butuan City.
“The first to operate will be the one
in Butuan,” Ms. Go said, even as she declined to provide the total amount of
investments that the company will pour into the two projects.
SM currently has four shopping centers
in Mindanao: two here and one each in Cagayan de Oro and General Santos cities.
The Cagayan de Oro mall will be the
second in Mindanao to carry the “Premier” brand, the first one being in this
city’s Lanang district that opened in 2012.
The shopping mall in Butuan, on the
other hand, will carry the “City” brand -- the fourth in Mindanao.
Ms. Go also confirmed the company has
started its land bank in Tagum City, Davao del Norte “although we are not privy
to the timetable for the project there.”
Allan L. Rellon, Tagum City mayor, had
said earlier that the city government has been reviewing incentives for
businesses in a bid to entice more investors. During the opening of SM Lanang
Premier in 2012, Hans T. Sy, president of SM Prime, had said the company was
ready to invest in more ventures in Mindanao.
SM Prime reported last Feb. 24 that
its net income edged up by a nearly flat 0.496% to P16.726 billion last year
from P16.643 billion in 2012, as cost -- mainly from corporate restructuring --
more than doubled to P3.425 billion from P1.636 billion. -- C. Q. Francisco
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