MANILA - Shopping mall giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. said the damage caused by tropical storm Ondoy was very minimal and had no effect on the company’s financial operations.

Jeffrey Lim, executive vice-president of SM Prime, said while there’s no actual estimate of the damage brought about by Saturday’s deadly typhoon, it was “very minimal”, pointing out that only the basement of its mall in Sta. Mesa, which houses the supermarket and the appliance store, was severely affected.

Lim, however, said its SM Sta. Mesa mall remains open to the public. “We’ve been trying to assess the damage caused by the typhoon since Saturday but it’s very minimal,” he said.

Lim said the company has maintained stable power suppy despite Saturday’s typhoon which dumped more than a month’s volume of average rainfall on Manila and surrounding areas in one 24-hour period, submerging 80% of the city.