SM SUPERMALLS, a unit of SM Prime Holdings, Inc., plans to open three new malls next year and aims to have 100 malls in its portfolio by 2027, according to its president.
“We have three mall openings for sure next year,” SM Supermalls President Steven Tan told reporters on the sidelines of a media event in Mandaluyong City on Wednesday.
“That would be in Laoag, La Union, and Zamboanga,” he added.
Mr. Tan said that SM may have 100 malls in its portfolio by 2027.
“We’re opening… another four or five (malls) in 2026 and another five in 2027,” he said.
“We should be able to reach 100, but I don’t want to declare it as a sure number that we will have,” he added.
In October, SM grew its domestic mall network to 87 with the launch of SM City J Mall in Mandaue City, Cebu.
On company’s fourth-quarter performance, Mr. Tan said that movies have boosted SM Supermalls’ results.
“Fourth quarter has been very good. We’re very happy with the results. We’ve been monitoring November, and it has never been this good. Maybe it is because of movies like Wicked, Moana 2,or Hello, Love, Again. The malls are full of people,” he said.
“The projection for December is also quite good because we still have the Metro Manila Film Festival. I’m quite confident with the December outcome. Until September, the movie industry has been a little gloomy. But then it spiked. Our numbers right now have already surpassed last year’s figures,” he added.
On his outlook for next year, Mr. Tan said: “2025 is going to be a good year for us; It’s also election time.”
SM Supermalls has over ten renovation and redevelopment projects planned for next year, with some nearing completion and others just beginning.
“SM Mall of Asia is already at the tail end. We will be launching the sky park, which would have the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)-sized football field. That will be launched early next year. We’re already starting with SM Megamall,” Mr. Tan said.
“SM Aura Premier is already undergoing renovation with the new food hall, and we started all the toilets. We will also start redeveloping SM City Clark,” he noted.
On Thursday, SM Prime shares rose by 0.38% or ten centavos to P26.20 per share. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
