SM Investments, which is controlled by the family of the late billionaire Henry Sy Sr, has budgeted up to 90 billion pesos ($1.6 billion) in capital expenditures for this year to expand its real estate and retail footprint across the Philippines, in the expectation that the country’s economic development will continue to be robust.
The president of SM Investments, Frederic C. DyBuncio, stated at the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Wednesday that growth opportunities remain strong.
“As a collective, we remain optimistic about 2023. Our expansion is concentrated primarily in emerging regional centers outside of Metro Manila. Our companies are well-positioned and have distinct strategies for participating in the nation’s robust growth.”
SM Prime, the country’s largest real estate developer and shopping mall operator, will spend 80 billion pesos in 2023 to establish three new malls. There are currently 82 retail malls throughout the archipelago, 58 of which are located outside of Metro Manila.
The business, which is building 84 residential projects, plans to sell 15,000–20,000 units this year.
The developer’s largest project is a $2 billion reclamation project in Manila Bay, where it intends to construct office and residential towers as well as a commercial complex on approximately 360 hectares of reclaimed land near SM Prime’s Mall of Asia, the country’s largest shopping mall.
The project will be partially funded by the $1 billion proceeds from the proposed initial public offering of its real estate investment trust in the second half of this year. The REIT will initially own a portfolio of up to 15 retail malls.
This year, SM Retail intends to open 400 new retail stores. It operates over 3,500 locations across the nation and generated 378,2 billion pesos in revenue last year.
Last year, the conglomerate, which also has interests in finance, logistics, power, and mining, generated 553 billion, eight hundred and thirty million pesos in revenue.
Henry Sy Sr. began selling overstock shoes in Manila in 1958 at a store he appropriately named Shoemart. Sy’s six offspring Teresa, Elizabeth, Henry Jr., Hans, Herbert, and Harley inherited his fortune upon his death in 2019. With a net worth of $12.6 billion, this family is the wealthiest in the Philippines.