...once again the Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company by sales. The inexorable decline of physical recordings reduced sales by 1.7 per cent and ebita by 18.5 per cent in the first half. Yet, with ebita excluding restructuring costs of €248m on sales of €2bn, UMG was still producing a double-digit margin, supported by merchandising sales and the growth of digital music. Digital sales...By Ben Hall in Paris