SM Prime Holdings Inc. earned P10.5 billion in the first quarter on the back of a modest topline improvement, 11 percent higher from a year earlier and extending its growth momentum from 2023.

Revenues grew 7 percent to P30.7 billion from P28.6 billion while operating income was 6 percent higher at P14.7 billion from P13.8 billion, the mall landlord told the stock exchange on Monday.

"We are encouraged [by] the performance of all our businesses this first quarter of 2024," SM Prime President Jeffrey Lim said, adding that the company was also "bullish" with regard to the mall business.

The property developer, which has programmed P100 billion for 2024 capital spending, wants to open a new shopping center this month and another three within the year, Lim said.

The mall business saw 7-percent growth to P18.2 billion during the quarter, accounting for the lion's share of total revenues at 59 percent.

Mall rental income was said to have climbed 8 percent year-on-year to P15.8 billion while other revenues that included cinema and event ticket sales reached P2.5 billion.

The primary residential business, which contributed 28 percent to the topline, delivered a 10-percent rise in revenues to P8.5 billion from P7.7 billion last year.

Reservation sales totaled P26.5 billion at the end of March, SM Prime also said.

"For the residential business, our focus remains [on] addressing [the] housing backlog within the socialized and economic segments," Lim said.

SM Prime, through its residential property development arm, SM Development Corp., is beefing up its portfolio with the planned launch of up to 10,000 residential units this year.

Other business segments, meanwhile, posed a 9-percent year-on-year uptick in sales to P3.4 billion.

The office unit's revenues amounted to P1.8 billion while the hotel and convention center business contributed P1.6 billion.

SM Prime earned P40 billion last year, 33 percent higher than the P30.1 billion booked a year earlier, following twin-digit revenue growth.

Shares in SM Prime fell 5 centavos, or 0.18 percent, to P27.35 each on Monday amid a 0.56-percent climb for the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.