Stock News 2013: SM profit jumps 22% in Q1

SM Prime Holdings (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the investment holding vehicle of the country’s richest man Henry Sy Sr., will outpace its targeted profit growth this year on the back of a 22-percent jump in first quarter earnings, top company executives said.

“From the figure I saw from the first quarter, I feel that we can have the range of about 15-17 percent (income growth),” said SMIC chief finance officer Jose Sio.

In its 2013-2015 plan, SMIC targets its profits to grow 12-15 percent annually, supported by the company’s continuous expansion.

But in the first quarter this year, its net income climbed 22 percent to P7.4 billion as revenues rose 15 percent to P56.8 billion from P49.6 billion a year ago.

“The growth was driven by the surge in earnings of SM’s banking business, coupled with strong earnings growth from SM’s mall and property businesses,” the company said.

“With the continuing rise in remittances from overseas Filipinos, the expansion of the country’s outsourcing sector and the recent credit upgrade of the Philippines to investment grade, we are confident of achieving even better results in the second quarter and beyond,” said SMIC president Harley T. Sy.

Of the first-quarter profits, SMIC derived 59.7 percent from banking (BDO Unibank Inc.), 15.8 percent from malls (SM Prime Holdings Inc.), 14.1 percent from retail operations (SM Retail Inc.) and 10.4 percent from property (SM Development Corp. and SM Land).

The trend regarding income contribution will continue given the strong financial sector in the Philippines, Sio said.

BDO’s earnings surged 257 percent to P10 billion in the first quarter as net interest income climbed 14 percent to P9.6 billion on the back of a 16-percent growth in customer loans and a nine-percent uptick in total deposits.

The country’s largest bank in terms of assets expects its full-year income to reach P20.4 billion.

Mall developer and operator SM Prime recorded a 15-percent gain in consolidated net income to P2.8 billion in the first three months of the year. Its revenues grew 11 percent to P7.8 billion.

SM Prime said its five malls in China contributed P700 million in revenues, up nine percent from last year.

SM Prime has 46 malls in the Philippines with a total gross floor area of 5.6 million square meters (sqm). In China, it has five malls with a total gross floor area of 0.8 million sqm.

For its part, SM Retail reported an income of P1.2 billion, up four percent from last year as sales rose 5.8 percent to P36.4 billion.

As of end-March, SM Retail had 201 stores consisting of 46 SM Department stores, 37 SM Supermarkets, 37 SM Hypermarkets and 81 SaveMore stores, up from just 176 stores in the same period last year.

SM’s property group recorded a net income of P1.8 billion, up 19 percent from last year. SMDC accounted for 76 percent of earnings.

In the first quarter, SMDC’s consolidated net income rose 12 percent to P1.4 billion.

The developer will launch four new projects this year that will introduce 13,000 condominium units to the market.

http://www.philstar.com/business/2013/04/26/934905/smic-profit-jumps-22-q1

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Stock News 2013: SM Investments reports 2012 net income of P24.7 B

SM Investments Corporation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Henry Sy’s SM Investments Corp. boosted its net profit last year by 16.3 percent to P24.7 billion on a double-digit rise in earnings across its banking, retailing, shopping mall and residential development businesses.

Revenues increased by 12 percent to P223.9 billion while cash flow as measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) went up by 24.2 percent to P54.9 billion, for an Ebitda margin of 24.5 percent, SMIC disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

This resulted in a return on equity of 14.3 percent for SMIC, the country’s most valuable conglomerate.

“SM’s strong full-year results were anchored not only on very favorable economic conditions, but also on the ability of our businesses to efficiently and effectively address the needs of our customers, who have grown increasingly more discerning,” SMIC president Harley Sy said in a press statement.

“Our performance during the year is testament to the hard work, focus, and dedication of the whole SM organization. With the positive economic outlook for 2013, we are confident of sustaining SM’s expansion and growth moving forward,” Sy said.

Banks accounted for the largest share of SM’s consolidated net income, contributing 34.4 percent of total. Retail operations accounted for 28.1 percent, followed by mall operations with 22.9 percent and property development, with 14.6 percent.

The group’s high-volume retailing business under SM Retail reported a net income of P6.6 billion last year, up by 12.5 percent.  Net margin stood at 4.1 percent.

Retail sales rose by 7.6 percent to P159.5 billion, while Ebitda grew by 13.5 percent to P11.8 billion, for an Ebitda margin of 7.4 percent.

SM Retail expanded last year by a total of 34 stores, consisting of five department stores, four SM Supermarkets, seven SM Hypermarkets and 18 SaveMore stores. At the end of the year, SM Retail had a total of 202 stores, consisting of 46 department stores, 37 SM Supermarkets, 37 SM Hypermarkets, and 82 SaveMore stores.

http://business.inquirer.net/110939/sm-investments-reports-2012-net-income-of-p24-7-b

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Stock News 2012: SMIC taps into $1-B cash pile for new investments

English: SM City Fairview in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
With a massive cash pile of around $1 billion, retail tycoon Henry Sy’s SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) is in a strong position to take advantage of any interesting opportunities that may crop up, according to a top company official.

SMIC chief finance officer Jose T. Sio said the holding firm is awash with cash, having raised P15 billion from the recent issuance of seven to 10-year fixed rate bonds. “We’re very liquid. We have like P40 billion plus in cash. Aside from that, we still have an untapped credit line,” he said.

Sio said the group has been looking for fresh uses of its huge cash reserves.

SMIC officials said they are still keen on acquiring a significant stake in the private holding firm that owns the 16-hectare Greenhills shopping complex, which would allow the SM Group to capture the lion’s share of the retail market in the fast-growing Ortigas-Pasig-Mandaluyong area.

The interest remains even as the group led by Ignacio R. Ortigas entered into a strategic alliance with property giant Ayala Land Inc., allowing the latter to participate in the development of the family’s various properties which include large residential, office, retail and hotel components

The Ortigas family exercised its right of first refusal over British banking giant HSBC’s stake in OCLP Holdings Inc. in a deal valued at P11 billion.

Meanwhile, Sio said SMIC may do another fund-raising within the year to take advantage of the country’s bright economic prospects following an upgrade to the Philippines’ sovereign credit standing to a notch below investment grade. “It would probably be a combination of equity and debt,” Sio said.

Proceeds from future cash-raising activities will be used to refinance existing obligations and for investments, Sio said.

He said SMIC sustained its growth traction in the second quarter, mainly due to the country’s strong economic fundamentals. “The second quarter is a little better than the first quarter. Traditionally, the second quarter is stronger than the first because of the summer break and the opening of schools,” he said.

Sio also disclosed that the group, through SM Prime and SM Development Corp., is in talks to buy tracts of land in various areas in China. “The property we’re acquiring should be good for the next three to four years,” he said.

SM Prime chief financial officer Jeffrey Lim earlier said they were looking to acquire five more properties in China to support their aggressive expansion in the world’s second biggest economy.

China is the group’s second biggest market next to the Philippines.

For this year, SMIC has set a capital spending of around P54 billion to continue the expansion of its banking, shopping mall, and real estate businesses. The capital budget is higher than what it spent in 2011.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=828533&publicationSubCategoryId=66

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Stock News 2012: SMIC earmarks P5 billion for hotel project

SM Investments Corporation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the holding firm for the various business of the family of the country’s richest man Henry Sy, has earmarked almost P5 billion for the construction of two hotels under the Luxury brand.

Based on documents submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), SMIC has appropriated around P4.93 billion out of the total proceeds from its fixed-rate bond issue for two hotel projects to be built at the Mall of Asia complex and in Looc, Batangas.

A big chunk, or P3.4 billion, will go to Luxury City Hotel, an upscale hotel that will have approximately 400 rooms.

The balance of P1.53 billion will be channeled to the 400-room Luxury Hotel in Santelmo, Batangas. “This will be a resort,” said SMIC chief financial officer Jose Sio.

Sio said the design and costing are still being prepared.

SMIC’s hotels and convention centers segment is aiming to offer 1,000 hotel rooms by 2013.

The group is currently building the P750-million Park Inn Radisson Hotel in Davao City’s Lanang District, the first Park Inn Radisson in the Asia Pacific region.

Targeted for opening in the first quarter of 2013, the 204-room Park Inn hotel will be located within the 175,000-square meter mixed-use complex owned and developed by SMIC’s shopping mall subsidiary SM Prime Holdings Inc.

The Park Inn brand is one of the hotel brands under Carlson and is the largest mid-market brand for hotels under development in Europe.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=815940

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Stock News 2012: SMIC net income up 13% to P6B in Q1

SM Investments Corporation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the listed flagship of the country’s wealthiest man Henry Sy, said its first quarter net earnings rose 13 percent to P6 billion, mainly driven by a 16-percent rise in revenues to P49.7 billion, owing to the robust performance across all core businesses.

“With the prevailing positive outlook on the domestic economy, together with the expected resilience of our subsidiaries, we remain optimistic that SM will attain its growth and expansion targets for the rest of the year,” said SMIC president Harley T. Sy.

“Our vision for the company remains focused on the long-term prospects in our five core businesses as they could further benefit from expectations of a stronger Philippine economy. Better governance in the public sector and the continued productivity of the Filipino people both in and outside of the country offers much room for steady growth in the consumer sector,” Sy added.

The banking business accounted for the bulk of this quarter’s income, contributing 32.3 percent to the total. This was followed by the retail group with a 26.7-percent share, shopping malls (25.3 percent) and real estate (15.7 percent).

BDO Unibank earned P2.8 billion, 15 percent higher than the P2.4 billion recorded in 2011 as gross customer loans continued to expand by 23 percent year-on-year.

SM Retail reported a 20-percent growth in net income to P1.1 billion as sales climbed by 10 percent to P34.4 billion on sustained expansion, particularly through SaveMore, which opened five new branches during the period under review.

The retail group opened to the public eight new stores, raising its total network to 176 as of end-March this year. This is broken down as follows 42 department stores, 33 supermarkets, 69 SaveMore branches, and 32 hypermarkets.

SMIC chief financial officer Jose T. Sio said the conglomerate hopes to sustain its upward momentum with net earnings seen to grow by 12 to 14 percent.

The company declared a cash dividend amounting to P10.40 each share to shareholders of record as of May 26. The dividends are payable on or before June 21.

The SM Group is aiming to list its China mall operations/assets either in Hong Kong or Singapore by 2015 to raise around $500 million.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=801012

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Stock News 2012: SMIC, major units bag top award anew

SM Investments Corporation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
For the third consecutive year, SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) won The Asset Platinum Corporate Award 2011 for all-around excellence in management, financial performance, corporate governance, social responsibility, environmental responsibility, and investor relations.

The highly prestigious Platinum Corporate Award was given to only 19 companies from Asia, which include, aside from SMIC, two other SM Group companies, namely SM Prime Holdings Inc. and BDO Unibank Inc.

The recognition was given by The Asset Publishing and Research Ltd, a Hong Kong-based multimedia entity serving the Asian financial markets and publisher of The Asset magazine. Platinum is the highest category under The Asset’s awards program.

“It is once again our honor and privilege to win The Asset’s Platinum Corporate award. It is indeed a fitting recognition of SM’s firm commitment to sound management and responsible corporate citizenship. We sincerely offer the award to our shareholders, clients, employees, and other stakeholders, for whom we undertake to continue implementing rigorous management practices,” SMIC president Harley T. Sy said.

“The criteria used to assess the companies include a range of metrics of financial performance, which are also a proxy for gauging management acumen,” The Asset explained.

“Since the purpose of the awards is also to recognize the importance of sustainable growth, companies are also evaluated according to the quality of their corporate governance, social responsibility, environmental responsibility, and investor relations,” it added.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=772510&publicationSubCategoryId=66

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Stock News 2011: SMIC expects better Q3, on track for double-digit growth

Conglomerate SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) expects its third quarter performance this year to be better than the same period in 2010 as Filipinos remain optimistic about their prospects.

In an interview at the sidelines of a forum organized by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines, SMIC chief finance officer Jose Sio said sales this year is being boosted by higher consumer spending.

He noted that this is due to strong remittances from overseas Filipinos as well as the large number of business process outsourcing firms all over the country which is providing employment and resulting in more disposable income.

However, Sio noted that, traditionally, earnings in the second quarter is seasonally better than in the third quarter.

He also disclosed that SMIC is on track to hit its targets this year as indicated by its first half results. “The indication is the same as of now. We can fulfill, if not better, our original budget,” Sio said.

SMIC registered a 13 percent growth in net income to P9.64 billion in the first half of 2011 from P8.53 billion during the same period in last year.

Consolidated revenues increased 9 percent to P92.94 billion as compared to P84.99 billion in the first semester of 2010.

The robust performance of SM’s property group, particularly its residential development business, and the sustained growth of its banking subsidiaries contributed to the company’s positive results for the period.

http://mb.com.ph/articles/334380/smic-expects-better-q3-track-doubledigit-growth