SM Prime gears up for more mall openings

SM Prime Holdings Inc. is gearing up for another massive capital spending program for its various developments next year, with more new malls slated for opening.

- By RICHMOND MERCURIO

The listed integrated property developer of the Sy family is looking to spend P100 billion to P110 billion for its capital expenditures next year, according to its president Jeffrey Lim.

The company has various options available for its funding sources to support its aggressive spending plan.

"The Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN), it's there available for us if we want to tap into it. The program is there already so SM Prime will have to just evaluate. As we need the money, then we decide whether we can still do retail bond because we have shelf registration or if we need to tap the EMTN," Lim said.

SM Prime and SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) last May established a $3-billion multi-issuer EMTN program which will allow the companies to tap the offshore bond market to fund their continued growth and expansion.

SMIC raised $500 million from the first tranche of its EMTN program last July, marking its largest offshore bond issuance since 2014.