SM Prime adding 4 malls this year

MANILA, Philippines – SM Prime Holdings Inc. will open at least four new malls this year as part of efforts to further expand its footprint nationwide and improve consumers’ mall experience.

 “We will surely open four more branches this year. We have the San Jose Del Monte (Bulacan), the Trece Martirez, East Ortigas and the one in Cherry Foodarama where we will have a mall,” said SM Prime Holdings president Hans Sy.

 The company earlier announced it was setting aside P65 billion in capital expenditures this year, bulk of which or 52 percent would be used for its mall expansion projects.

This year’s capex is P1 billion higher than this year’s allotment.

The rest of the capex budget would go to residential (38 percent) and commercial projects (seven percent), and hotels and convention centers (three percent).

“SM Prime plans to fund its capital expenditure plan through recurring income flows and external financing,” the company said.

 Aside from the new malls, Sy said the company is also gearing up for the expansion of the Mall of Asia.

 “The next big one is the expansion of the Mall of Asia. Expansion is going to be a very big one but it’s going to be in the next two years. We finished one eighth of the whole development,” Sy said.

He said the company is also very happy with the launch of SM Seaside Cebu, which has expanded its total retail space to 7.3 square meters (sqm.).

 The new mall provides an additional 430,000 sqm. in gross floor area (GFA), SM Prime said.

The SM Group has been making improvements in its malls as it has been noticing a new breed of shoppers who want a total experience in malls.

In order to cater to this new breed, SM has introduced more international retail brands, more interesting food concepts as well as services geared towards enhancing wellness and providing greater convenience.

 These include spas, dental clinics, and waxing salons.

SM Prime currently has a total of 56 malls in the Philippines and six in China with an estimated combined GFA of 8.3 million sqm.