THE Sy family’s SM Prime Holdings, Inc. may have a capital expenditure (capex) budget of up to P110 billion for 2025 as the company plans to open five new malls, the company’s president said.
“For next year, I think it should be P100 to P110 billion. That’s more of a guide,” SM Prime President Jeffrey C. Lim said during a media briefing in Pasay City last week.
Mr. Lim said the company is not expected to fully use the P100-billion capex earmarked for this year.
“The forecast this year is P100 billion. But I don’t think we’ll get to P100 billion,” he said.
Mr. Lim added that SM Prime is looking to open five new malls next year.
If met, this will bring the company’s domestic mall portfolio to 92 locations.
The planned malls will be in La Union, Zamboanga, Laoag City in Ilocos Norte, and Santa Rosa City in Laguna, while the fifth location has yet to be finalized.
SM Prime recently opened SM City J Mall in Mandaue, Cebu, the company’s 87th mall in the country.
The four-level mall has over 100,000 square meters of gross floor area.
Mr. Lim said SM Prime is also planning mall redevelopments next year, mostly in provincial locations.
“We’re going to do the old mall in Cebu and Rosales, Pangasinan in the north. It depends on the size of the mall. But (redevelopment) ranges from P800 million up to P1.5 billion for every location,” he said.
“You have to continuously evolve because consumers are very demanding. It’s not just about shopping and eating anymore. It’s the experience when they go inside the mall. That’s why we have to add a lot of amenities and also bring in new concepts,” he added.
Mr. Lim does not see “any major issue” that would affect SM Prime’s financial position for the remainder of 2024.
“For the first two quarters, I think we met our targets. Looking forward, I don’t see any major issue,” he said.
For the first six months, SM Prime saw a 13% increase in consolidated net income to P22.1 billion from P19.4 billion a year ago.
Consolidated revenue for January to June rose by 8% to P64.7 billion from P59.9 billion.
SM Prime shares were last traded on Oct. 31, closing at P30.65 per share. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
