SM to develop eco-tourism project in Batangas

SM Investments Inc. plans to launch in the first quarter of 2007 the first phase of its multi-billion peso eco-tourism project in Batangas, in line with its strategy to invest more in the property sector. The project, named Hamilo Coast, is one of SM Investment’s large-scale projects and will be the country’s first resort community that will have a retail segment. SM will soon introduce the first phase called Cutad Cove – a 40-ha project that will have a hotel, residential condominiums, a country club, and a retail village. According to SM Investments investor relations head Corazon Guidote, the company will take in a foreign hotel operator for the 5,700-hectare integrated resort community located in the town of Nasugbu. "This is also SM’s thrust into the tourism industry," she said. Guidote said it will take 20 to 30 years to develop a series of resort villages in Hamilo Coast, which boasts of 13 natural coves, a virgin forest, and features Mt. Pico de Loro National Park. SM – which counts among its units SM Department Stores, Banco de Oro Universal Bank, China Bank, Equitable PCI, and SM Development Corp., had a first-half net profit of P5.1 billion, 85 percent higher from a year earlier. Excluding extraordinary items, net recurring income grew 26 percent in the first half to P2.9 billion on the strength of the retail merchandising business, and mall operations. - GMANews.TV