SM Prime says it will open four new malls in Philippine provinces this year. The company will also intensify land-banking efforts to make it easier to develop properties in the future. The new SM Prime malls will be SM Mindpro Citimall in Zamboanga City, SM Center Dagupan, SM City Butuan and SM City Olongapo Central. Together they will have a gross floor area of 179,000sqm.
“SM Prime’s mall expansion is geared toward the provinces,” the company said in a presentation posted online. “The focus is to cover most of Northern Luzon, Visayas, and the progressive cities in Mindanao.”
Besides the new shopping centres, the company’s properties SM City Baguio and SM City Fairview will be expanded this year, adding 46,000sqm and 32,000sqm, respectively.
All these developments will see the company finish the year with 10.5 million sqm of GFA, representing an increase of 9 per cent for the year.
SM Prime’s profit rose 17 per cent in the first nine months of last year, to P23.44 billion (US$444.6 million) on sales up 15 per cent to P74.56 billion (US$1.414 billion).