By Richmond S. Mercurio (The
Philippine Star) | Updated April 20, 2015 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Integrated
property firm SM Prime Holdings Inc. is taking the SM mall slogan “we got it
all for you” to new heights with plans of moving into larger scale developments
in the coming years.
SM Prime president Hans T. Sy told The
STAR that the property giant is keen on jumping into the township bandwagon
which rivals Ayala Land and Megaworld have been aggressively investing into in
recent years.
“Ours is more on the small integrated
developments so we’re not really into that townships at present. But if there
is an opportunity then we’ll go into it,” Sy said.
More than just being a trend, township
developments are regarded as the standard in the local real estate sector,
according to Ayala Land and Megaworld.
“Our focus at present is where we are
best, which is the integrated mall development,” Sy said.
In its first full year as an
integrated property company of the SM Group, SM Prime in 2014 posted a revenue
growth of 11 percent year-on-year at P66.2 billion and a consolidated net
income growth of 13 percent at P18.4 billion.
“The Philippine market is very
consumer-oriented, and that type of business is really our line,” Sy said.
With a potential venture into township
developments, SM Prime plans to capitalize on the popularity of its mall brand
to anchor future larger scale integrated property projects.
“With large land banking in strategic
locations, we are able to amplify our capacity to leverage on our existing
world-class malls to anchor more lifestyle cities,” Sy said.
“As our developments serves as pillars
of progress, we remain focused on expanding our reach further to the periphery,
thereby promoting inclusive growth which is in line with our vision to be a
prime mover in nation building,” he added.
As one of the largest integrated
property developers in Southeast Asia, SM Prime to date has 55 malls in the
Philippines and China with a total gross floor area of more than 7 million
square meters.
It has 25 condominium projects to date
composed of 69,414 units, as well as four office buildings with a combined
gross floor area of 188,541 square meters.
SM Prime is also in the tourism and
hospitality sector, with four hotels of over 1,000 rooms as well as four
convention centers and two trade halls.
“With the forecast on the Philippines
to be the fastest growing Southeast Asian economy in 2015, we anticipate
consumer spending to be vibrant and the business climate to be dynamic. We
shall set our sights to further expand in both our commercial leasing business
and our hotels and resorts portfolio,” SM Prime chairman Henry T. Sy, Jr. said.
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