SM Prime moves closer to breaking record income

Real estate giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. is close to breaking its 2023 record net income after booking a 12-percent gain in the first nine months of this year to P33.9 billion.

In a stock exchange filing on Monday, SM Prime said revenues also expanded by 8 percent to P99.8 billion in the January to September period.

The developer is P6.1-billion short of shattering its P40-billion full-year net income record last year. In the third quarter alone, SM Prime’s profits reached P11.8 billion, up by 11 percent.

“For the remainder of the year, we anticipate continued growth due to the recent opening of SM City J Mall and the upcoming holiday season,” SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim said. Lim previously told reporters they were expecting record-high net income this year.

Mall business revenues inched up by 8 percent to P56.5 billion, accounting for 57 percent of the company’s total.

Mall rental income climbed by 8 percent to P48.5 billion. Cinemas, event ticket sales and other revenues ended at P8 billion, up by 4 percent.

The primary residential business under SM Development Corp. (SMDC) saw P31.2 billion in revenues, representing a 9-percent uptick. SMDC’s reservation sales stood at P47 billion.

Despite industry pundits warning of an oversupply in the residential market in the metro, Lim said they “do not have … that big of a problem when it comes to inventory levels because we have not been over-building.”

The company planned to spend up to P110 billion next year, mainly to build five new domestic malls in line with a goal to reach 100 branches by 2027.