Despite the ongoing political noise and challenges in the business environment, SM Retail is optimistic about its performance this quarter while continuing to expand its operations by opening new stores nationwide.

“We remain hopeful because it’s Christmas time. Filipino consumers usually, with the Christmas bonus coming in, they really spend time with their families, and they go to malls and retail stores,” said SM Retail President Jonathan Ng in an interview.

He noted that, “We always remain hopeful when it comes to the Christmas season. The fourth quarter is always our strongest quarter historically. Particularly, there’s always a big pickup in December when Christmas bonuses come in.”

In 2026, Ng said they will continue to expand as a few malls will be opened by sister company SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SM Prime), and “we will always be present in these.”

He added that they will also maintain the aggressive expansion pace of Alfamart by opening between 200 and 250 new stores next year, up from about 200 new stores opened in 2025.

To boost same-store sales, Ng said, “We’ll continue to focus on our strength. We always take a look at what the trending items are. We usually try to bring them into our stores.”

He pointed out that, “There’s still a lot of political noise, but we always have a view of the long term. We continue to open.”

SM Retail reported a slight decline in net income to ₱12.2 billion in the first nine months of 2025 from ₱12.8 billion in the same period last year. However, revenues grew five percent to ₱318.1 billion.

The firm attributed the lower net income to an earlier school opening in June, which shifted some spending from the third to the second quarter.

However, despite the shift, specialty retail spending grew in health and beauty, fashion, and kids categories. Food retail revenue rose seven percent, supported by store expansions.