SM cues more malls in China
The SM Group of the billionaire Sy family is set to start at least three more projects in China in the next two years, banking on the country’s potential despite an economic slowdown seen in recent years.
SM Supermalls president Steven Tan said they would open another phase of their SM Xiamen branch in Fujian province by next year, and another project in Haicheng town. The retail giant will likewise open another Fujian mall in two years.
“The slowdown that everyone is talking about really depends on the area. China is so big, and Fujian is not really greatly affected, and most of our anchor projects are in Fujian,” Tan said in a recent media briefing of parent company SM Prime Holdings Inc.
SM Xiamen was launched in December 2001 and currently has a gross floor area of at least 300,000 square meters (sq m).
SM Retail previously said they would spend around P4 billion to expand the Xiamen mall.
The group currently has eight malls in China covering a total of 1.6 million sq m. Apart from the one in Xiamen, the other malls are located in Chengdu, Chongqing, Tianjin, Suzhou, Zibo, Jinjiang and Yangzhou—which opened last year.
According to SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim, they wanted to focus their projects in the Fujian area, as they had two more lots available for development.
“We just have to improve the efficiency and productivity of these malls. We have to develop them because Fujian province is a market where we are doing very well in China,” Lim told reporters.
He also clarified that they were not eyeing expansion in other countries in the near term, as they were “focusing all our efforts and investments in the Philippines.”
Last year, the company opened three new local malls: SM City Bataan, SM Center San Pedro and SM City Sto. Tomas. They now have 85 shopping malls across the country.
The developer plans to spend around P100 billion this year for its projects, including four new malls in the Philippines spanning a total of 400,000 sq m.
On the housing side, it aims to launch up to 10,000 units of residential developments, mainly mid-rise buildings, through SM Development Corp.
SM Prime last year booked P40 billion in earnings, a 33-percent growth on the continued rebound in consumer spending that helped lift profit in its mall business.
