SM likely to consider another mall in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines — Sy-led SM Prime Holdings remains keen to build another mall in Cebu as the southern economic center still presents huge opportunities, a top official said yesterday.

SM Supermalls chief operating officer Steven Tan said the probability of building another mall in Cebu "is still very high".

"If there is an opportunity, definitely we can still open (another mall) in Cebu," he told The FREEMAN in an interview Friday at the opening of SM Center Ormoc, the company's 72nd mall in the country.

However, this isn't part yet in the company's pipeline of mall projects in the next three years.

"At the moment (no concrete plans of another mall in Cebu yet). But the probability remains very high," Tan pointed out.

He said Cebu, being the economic center in Visayas, still has a huge growth potential.

"Cebu still has more room," he said, noting that Cebu remains SM's biggest market in southern Philippines.

The Sy-led company currently has three big shopping centers in Cebu, namely SM City Cebu, SM Seaside City Cebu and SM Consolacion.

Tan also added the mall developer remains bullish on expanding further in Visayas, as there are still more potential areas it wants to penetrate, citing Bohol province.

"There is still a lot of areas that we have not come in," Tan said.

To date, the mall operator has 79 malls, 72 in the Philippines and 7 in China.

SM Prime's consolidated net income from January to September this year rose 17 percent to P23.44 billion.

SM's shopping mall business delivered 58 percent of total revenues, followed by residences with 34 percent while its other business accounted for 8 percent.