Henry Sy

Henry Sy

Postby winston » Thu Aug 02, 2012 4:08 pm

Billionaire Sy Plans $1.5 Billion Mall Expansion: Southeast Asia By Ian C. Sayson

Philippine billionaire Henry Sy’s shopping mall developer is planning to spend 63 billion pesos ($1.5 billion) in the next three years, to add as many as 18 shopping malls at home and in China , as consumer spending rise.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPH), the biggest Philippine retail developer, plans to build four to five malls a year in the Southeast Asian nation. It’s also targeting a shopping center in China every year, said Hans Sy, the Manila-based company’s president and the billionaire’s son.

Hans Sy, president of SM Prime Holdings Inc., said the new Philippine malls will be located in areas outside Metro Manila, which includes the capital and 16 neighboring towns and cities.
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The expansion will help sustain profit growth, the company said, forecasting a 16 percent increase in earnings this year after a 15 percent gain in 2011.

“I am quite positive that we can accelerate our earnings growth,” Hans Sy, 56, said in an interview on July 31 in Manila. “There are still plenty of opportunities in the Philippines and in China. We believe consumer spending in both countries are sustainable and will continue to grow.”

New malls in China will also extend its revenue base beyond the 108 million population in the Philippines to the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Sales in its home market made up more than 90 percent of revenue last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

SM Prime may face the risk of declining funds sent home by Filipinos working abroad, while a “sharp” economic slowdown in China may make it longer for the company’s expansion to bear fruit, according to Astro del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Finance Inc.

Remittances from more than 9 million Filipinos overseas account for about a 10th of the $225 billion Philippine economy, with citizens abroad sending home a record $20 billion in 2011.

The value of those inflows, which helped fund property purchases, may be eroded as the Philippine peso strengthened 4.8 percent this year, the most among Asia’s most-actively traded currencies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

In China, SM Prime’s president said he will focus on less- affluent or second-tier cities such as Zibo. It plans to open a mall in Chongqing by the end of the year, its fifth in China. Last year, it added a mall each in the Philippines and China.

The new Philippine malls will be located in areas outside Metro Manila, which includes the capital and 16 neighboring towns and cities, said Hans Sy, who’s the fourth of the billionaire’s six children. The company plans to open five malls in the country this year, adding to its network of 41 outlets.

The elder Sy, 87, is worth $11 billion, making him the wealthiest man in the Philippines and the 73rd-richest in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-0 ... -asia.html
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