SM Prime Holdings Inc., Philippines' largest shopping mall operator, set to open its fourth SM mall on the Chinese mainland, which will be located in the city of Suzhou, the company said Wednesday.

SM Prime Holdings currently operates three SM Malls in Xiamen and Jinjiang in southern China and Chengdu in the southwest region.

Its three malls in China contributed 600 million pesos or 5 percent of total consolidated revenues. In terms of net income, these malls contributed 100 million for the six-month period, or 3 percent of total consolidated net income.

SM reported in a statement its second quarter net profits grew by 11 percent year-on-year to 1.9 billion pesos (41.2 million U.S. dollars)on the back of strong consumer spending.

This brought SMPH's first semester consolidated net profit to 3. 8 billion pesos (82.4 million U.S. dollars), up by 10 percent from the same period last year.

For the second quarter alone, revenues reached 5.9 billion pesos, or 19 percent higher than a year ago. Cash flow as measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) stood at 4 billion pesos, up by 17 percent from the same period last year, for an EBITDA margin of 67 percent.

EBITDA margin measures the extent to which cash operating expenses use up revenue.

Consolidated revenues grew by 17 percent to 11.3 billion pesos from a year ago. Six-month EBITDA grew by the same pace of 17 percent to 7.7 billion pesos, for an EBITDA margin of 68 percent.

Operating expenses during the first six months rose by 18 percent to 5.3 billion peso due to an increase in administrative and depreciation expenses. Income from operations increased to 6 billion pesos, up by 17 percent.

"The encouraging results delivered by SM Prime validate our positive sentiment on the economy, which is further bolstered by robust consumer spending. We expect the second half of the year with more optimism in executing our expansion plans," SM Prime President Hans Sy said.

By year-end, SM Prime is expected to have 40 malls in the Philippines, with an estimated total ground floor areas of 4.7 million square meters. (1 U.S. dollar is around 46 pesos)