By Jenniffer B. Austria | May. 19,
2014 at 12:01am [manilastandardtoday.com ]
SM Prime Holdings Inc., the integrated property development unit of the
SM Group, plans to increase capital spending by 18 percent to P83 billion in
2015 from P70.6 billion it allotted this year.
SM Prime said in a filing with the
Securities and Exchange Commission it planned to aggressively expand core
businesses by allocating 42 percent of the P83 billion for shopping malls, 21
percent for residential, 34 percent for commercial and 3 percent for
hospitality and tourism-related businesses in 2015.
“SM Prime plans to fund its capital
expenditure plan through recurring income flows, external financing and
proceeds from the P25-billion bond offering,” the company said.
It said for the malls business, it
would develop three to four malls in the Philippines each year and expand its
presence in second and third-tier cities in China by building one mall a year
in the near term.
SM Prime aims to increase overall
gross floor area of its shopping malls by 8 percent to 10 percent a year to 7.2
million square meters in the Philippines and 1.5 million square meters in China
by 2015.
The company said to boost commercial
projects, it would launch one or two office buildings annually, in line with
the target of doubling office GFA by 2015. It also plans to put up office
buildings, catering to the business process outsourcing industry in Cebu City,
Davao City, Iloilo City and Pampanga province.
It said on the residential side, it
would accelerate the development of residential projects at Mall of Asia in
Pasay City, Quezon City, Parañaque, Taguig, Ortigas, Makati and Mandaluyong, or
in areas near existing SM malls.
SM Prime said as a long-term strategy,
it would optimize existing properties and add retail, office, residential and
leisure projects to existing developments.
It said existing shopping malls, such
as SM Megamall, SM North Edsa and SM South Road Property in Cebu still had
significant under utilized areas that were suitable for commercial, hospitality
and residential developments.
SM Prime earlier said it would sell
P25 billion worth of fixed retail bonds with terms of five and a half years,
seven years and 10 years.
SM Prime tapped BDO Capital &
Investment Corp. and First Metro Investment Corp. as the joint issue managers
and bookrunners for the offering.
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