SMIC to hold non-deal roadshows in September

MANILA, Philippines - SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the holding firm for the various businesses of the family of retail tycoon Henry Sy, will hold non-deal roadshows in September to meet with foreign investors.

SMIC chief financial officer Jose Sio said they have scheduled roadshows in Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Boston, Denver and New York.

A non-deal roadshow is a large meeting or conference put together for the purpose of meeting potential clients without a specific agreement being discussed or agreed upon. Attendees of roadshows include analysts and portfolio managers.

Sio said while the company has cash of $1 billion, it was open to tapping the foreign debt market.

“If there’s a good opportunity, demand is always there, but if somebody can offer us opportunistic financing, who are we to refuse,” he said.

SMIC last tapped the bond market in September 2009, raising $500 million from the issuance of five-year bonds to refinance debt.

SMIC reported a 15 percent growth in its first half net earnings this year to P8.5 billion, mainly due to strong growth across all its business units led by retailing, property development and banking. This prompted the holding firm to raise its full-year income growth target from 12 percent to 14 percent.

For the rest of the year, SMIC is spending P21.9 billion for the continued expansion of its core businesses.

With the second half a traditionally strong period for corporations, Sio said the company will most likely post a 14 percent hike in net income this year to around P18.5 billion.

Retailing contributed the most to net income with a 35 percent share. This was followed by banking and shopping malls, which accounted for 28 percent and 24 percent, respectively. The emerging property group chalked in 13 percent.

The retail group posted a first half net profit of P2.8 billion, up 25 percent from P2.2 billion, due to gains in its food business and greater operational efficiency. Total retail sales went up 12 percent to P63.4 billion.

It opened nine new retail stores since the start of the year, boosting the total branch network to 125. For the rest of 2010, the group will launch three more department stores, three supermarkets, six SaveMore branches and four hypermarkets.

SMIC’s mall unit, SM Prime Holdings, reported a 10 percent rise in consolidated net income at P3.8 billion on revenues of P11.3 billion. The results include the operation of the company’s three malls in mainland China located in the provinces of Jin-Jiang, Xiamen and Chengdu.

Its main banking arm Banco de Oro Unibank Inc.’s net profit surged 94 percent to P4.1 billion and is likely to hit P8.1 billion by yearend. Another bank unit, China Banking Corp., reported net earnings of P2.1 billion or an increase of eight percent.

SMIC’s real estate operations, meanwhile, yielded a 39 percent growth in net income to P1.7 billion, mostly coming from residential arm SM Development Corp. and the leasing activities of the commercial properties group as well as the resort projects of Costa Del Hamilo. Revenues from real estate operations jumped 59 percent to P5.2 billion.

By the end of 2011, SM Hotels will have a total of 810 rooms in its portfolio from only 260 rooms. The group will open in September Radisson Blu, located in Cebu which houses a total of 400 units.

SMIC is currently the largest player in the convention business with 27,278 square meters of total leasable space. Revenues from the convention business went up nine percent to P121 million.