SM Prime Holdings

SM Prime Holdings

SM Prime Holdings, inc. (PSE: SMPH) or SM Prime is the parent company of the SM Group's shopping malls. It is the largest shopping mall and retail operator in the Philippines. It was incorporated on 6 January 1994 to develop, conduct, operate and maintain the SM commercial shopping centres and all businesses related thereto, such as the lease of commercial spaces within the compound of shopping centres. It later went public on July 5, 1994 and subsequently grew to become the largest company listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange in terms of revenue. As of 2007, SM Prime Holdings became one of the largest shopping mall chains in the world. The company's main sources of revenues include rental income from mall and food courts, cinema ticket sales and amusement income from bowling and ice-skating.

Currently, it has 46 operating malls totalling a gross floor area of 5.5 million square metres located in Metro Manila, Olongapo City, Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, Tarlac, Lucena City, Pangasinan, Rizal, Angeles City, Bacolod City, Baguio City, Cagayan de Oro City, Cebu City, Metro Davao, Iloilo City, General Santos City and Naga City.

On April 2, 2008, SM Investments Corp. (the parent company to SM Prime) announced that it would participate in a $1 billion casino project in Manila. The 40-hectare Bagong Nayong Pilipino-Manila Bay Integrated Tourism Project consists of a casino, hotels, shopping malls and other entertainment facilities. In July 2012, SM partnered with Lawrence Ho of Macau-based Melco International Development, the son of casino magnate Stanley Ho, and James Packer, the son of the late Australian media giant, Kerry Packer to proceed with the new casino development, which is expected to capitalize on a growing middle class and increased tourism.

SM Prime Holdings currently operates three malls in the southern and western parts of China, namely: Xiamen, Jinjiang and Chengdu. The mall in Xiamen was the first to open in December 2001. It has a gross floor area of 128,000 sq m, almost similar in size to SM City Sta. Mesa and is 100% occupied. SM Jinjiang opened in November 2005 with a gross floor area of 170,000 sq m and occupancy of 74%. Opened last year was SM Chengdu with a gross floor area of 170,000 sq m and an occupancy rate of 71%.

Another mall is up for construction in the third quarter and would be situated in Chongqing, southwest China's commercial capital. SM Prime Holdings is spending P1 billion to build the said mall. It will have a gross floor area of 140,000 sq m and is up for completion by 2012.