San Miguel Corp. booked 6.28 billion pesos (PHP) in consolidated net income for the first semester, down by 89 per cent from year-ago level which, the company said, was bloated by non-recurring gains from the sale of a substantial stake in its beer brewery business.

Excluding non-recurring items and foreign exchange gains, however, San Miguel said its core net profit for the semester grew by 7 percent from a year ago, reports Philippine Daily Inquirer.

San Miguel said its food group delivered higher consolidated revenue of PHP38 billion in the first semester, due to strong performance of the poultry, feeds, dairy, coffee and most of the group's regional businesses.

The food business is consolidated under San Miguel Pure Foods Co., where a substantial stake is currently being auctioned off.

San Miguel may announce the results of a contest between the Unilab-Century group and the Gokongweis' Universal Robina Corp. by next week. If San Miguel is able to sell a strategic stake in the food unit, it will book extraordinary gains this second semester.