MANILA, Philippines ? Conglomerate Ayala Corp. boosted its first semester consolidated net profit by 9 percent year-on-year to P4.4 billion mostly on robust contributions from its real estate and banking units.

Ayala's net income for the second quarter alone expanded by 21 percent year-on-year to P2.3 billion.

For the first semester, equity earnings grew by 15 percent to P5.7 billion with Ayala Land and Bank of the Philippine Islands contributing 31 and 14 percent, respectively. This cushioned the impact of a 29 percent decline in equity earnings from Globe Telecom.