MANILA: Listed firm SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) will focus its expansion in the provinces, helping the government to trickle down the country’s strong economic growth.
During SMIC’s annual stockholders’ meeting in Pasay City on Wednesday, SMIC president and chief executive officer Frederic DyBuncio said the SM Group aims to help address the ‘significant gap’ in modern retailing, banking, and integrated property outside Metro Manila.
‘Today, there is still a significant gap in accessing modern retailing, banking, services, and integrated property development for many Filipinos,’ DyBuncio said in a recorded report.
‘Our strategy is to continue to expand the coverage nationwide to reach and create new markets to improve accessibility and inclusivity in these sectors to help reach these gaps and provide more opportunities for underserved areas.’
On the sidelines of the media briefing, SMIC senior vice president for finance Franklin Gomez told reporters that the company is looking at a capital expenditure (cap
ex) of between PHP110 billion and PHP120 billion this year, exclusive of spending for its banking business.
Gomez said SMIC’s capex in 2023 was at PHP80 billion.
The bulk of the capex this year is for SM Prime Holdings, Inc., as it intends to spend PHP100 billion for developing integrated properties across the country.
SM Prime is opening four new malls this year in the National Capital Region (NCR) and three provincial areas.
SM Development Corp. plans to roll out 8,000 to 10,000 residential units in the northern part of the country, as well as in the Visayas and Mindanao in 2024.
SM’s minimart grocery format Alfamart also eyes to open at least 400 stores this year.
BDO and BDO Network Bank, likewise, plan to increase their branches across the country by 100 to 120 branches.
‘The country has so much more to grow. The provincial areas are growing faster than NCR. We are directing a lot of our investments in provincial areas and hopefully, as the economic activity picks up, that we should be able to ben
efit from the growth as well,’ Gomez said.
After its acquisition of the Philippine Geothermal Production Company (PGPC), the company targets to double its current 300 megawatts of steam production in the medium term.
Its 2GO Group, Inc. also added two new ships this year, aiming to improve connectivity and provide seamless logistics across the islands.
SMIC chairman Amando Tetangco Jr., meanwhile, said the company targets its portfolio investments in the mid-teens over the medium term, driven by logistics and renewables.
‘We felt that for the country to continue to grow, and for the economy to trickle down in other areas, very important to that is logistics,’ the former central bank governor said.
Source: Philippines News Agency