SM Prime Holdings, Inc. on Monday reported a consolidated net income of P6.5 billion for the first three months of 2021, down 22% from the P8.3 billion earned in the same period last year.
Quarter on quarter, it noted an improvement of 80% compared with the P3.6-billion profit recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020, it said in a statement.
SM Prime’s first-quarter consolidated revenues went down by 19% to P20.8 billion from P25.8 billion year on year.
Its residential business led by SM Development Corp. accounted for 57% of the company’s consolidated revenues.
Revenues from the residential segment grew by five percent to P11.9 billion from the P11.4 billion seen in the January-to-March period in the previous year.
Reservation sales also improved to P32.4 billion, 31% higher than the P24.8 billion in 2020.
Nearly 70% of the reservation sales were from newly launched projects in Metro Manila, such as Gold Residences in Parañaque City, South 2 Residences in Las Piñas City, Mint Residences in Makati City, Sands Residences in Manila City, and Sail Residences in Pasay City.
SM Prime said it is eyeing to launch 15,000 to 20,000 more residential units this year.
“The group’s operating income likewise improved by 9% recording P5.1 billion in the first quarter of 2021 from P4.6 billion of the same period under review,” the company said.
Meanwhile, its mall segment accounted for 28% of consolidated revenues at P5.9 billion, declining by nearly 48% from the P11.3 billion in mall revenues seen last year.
It is, however, a 10% improvement from the P5.3 billion seen in the last three months of 2020.
“We welcomed 2021 with high hopes as most areas in the Philippines, including Metro Manila, were placed under GCQ (general community quarantine) in the first quarter of 2021,” SM Prime President Jeffrey C. Lim said, referring to the least strict lockdown level.
“Along with the sustained growth of our residential business, our mall affiliates together with many of our SME-partners were able to reopen their shops, allowing our mall business segment to perform better,” he added.
The company’s income from mall rentals in the first quarter went down by almost 45% to P5.6 billion from P10.1 billion year on year. Compared with the last quarter of 2020, mall rental income improved by 14% from P4.9 billion.
Revenues from China-based malls soared by 53% to 199-million renminbi (RMB) in the first quarter from the RMB130 million seen in the same period last year.
“The positive growth of the company’s international malls signals return to normal operations after the government-imposed lockdown last January 2020,” SM Prime said.
The company plans to launch three new malls this year, namely: SM City Daet in Camarines Norte, SM City Roxas in Capiz, and SM City Grand Central in Caloocan City. The expansion will add almost 270,000 square meters of gross floor area for retail space.
SM Prime’s other business segments in office, hotels, and convention centers accounted for seven percent or P1.6 billion of its consolidated revenues.
Shares of SM Prime at the stock exchange went down by 0.44% on Monday, closing at P34.30 from the previous trading day’s P34.45. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte