Philippines' SM Investments Corp net income up 14% in first half

MANILA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Philippine conglomerate SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) posted a net income of 7.4 billion pesos (about 154 million U.S. dollars) in the first half of the year, up 14 percent on year, thanks to steady growth in its retailand property businesses.

SMIC, controlled by Filipino Chinese businessman Henry Sy Sr, is one of the country's biggest conglomerates and a dominant player in the retail, mall operations, finance and real estate sectors.

In its disclosure sent on Thursday to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SMIC President Harley Sy reported the company's consolidated revenues increased 13 percent to 74.5 billion pesos (about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars).

"All our major subsidiaries performed well amid a generally slower business environment due to the global financial crisis," Sy said.

The company's retail merchandising unit (SM Retail) is the biggest revenue earner, contributing 39 percent to SMIC's net income in the first half. SM Retail, which operates several department stores and supermarkets, reported a net income of 2.4 billion pesos (about 50 million U.S. dollars) in the first half. This is 42 percent higher than the earnings posted in the same period last year. SM Retail's sales revenues rose 7 percent to 56.4 billion pesos (about 1.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the first six months of the year.

Sy said improvement in cost efficiency due to economies of scale, operational improvements, and its venture to "smaller" supermarkets such as the Save More stores boosted SM Retail's earnings.

Revenues from SMIC's real estate operations for the first half increased by 37 percent to 4.4 billion pesos (about 92 million U.S. dollars). Net income increased by 80 percent to 1.2 billion pesos (about 25 million U.S. dollars). The strong performance of SM's residential arm, SM Development Corporation (SMDC); and the leasing activities of the commercial properties group boosted SMIC's real estate earnings.