Robinsons Land Corp., the property unit of business tycoon John Gokongwei, plans to build 10 new shopping malls over the next two to three years in a bid to catch up with SM Prime Holdings Inc., the country’s leading retail operator and developer.

SM Prime currently operates 36 malls in the Philippines and three in China.

Robinsons Land said in a filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange that it planned to sustain growth momentum through the development of new shopping malls and expansion of existing ones.

The company did not identify the sites of the new malls.

Robinsons Land as of end-September last year had 26 shopping malls after opening five new outlets in Pulilan in Bulacan, Tagaytay, Davao, Tacloban and General Santos.

Six of the malls are found in Metro Manila while 20 are situated in urban areas across the country. The 26 have a gross floor area of approximately 1.430 million square meters.

“Historically, revenues from lease rentals have been a steady source of operating cash flows for the company. RLC expects that the revenues and operating cash flows generated by the commercial centers business shall continue to be the driver for the company’s growth in the future,” Robinsons Land said.

Robinsons Land reported a net income of P3.27 billion for the fiscal year ending September 2009, up 4 percent from the previous year.

The commercial centers division accounted for P4.21 billion of the real estate revenues for the year, up 14 percent from P3.69 billion due to newly-opened malls.

Share price of Robinsons Land closed unchanged at P10.75 per share Wednesday.

SM Prime earlier said it would spend P12 billion this year to open five new malls and for landbanking. The five new malls are located in Calamba (Laguna), Masinag (Antipolo), San Pablo (Laguna), Novaliches and Tarlac.

SM Prime plans to open next at least three new malls in Commonwealth Avenue (Quezon City), Davao City and General Santos City.