No breakup for Vivendi

ALL CALM AT THE MOTHERSHIP: Vivendi CFO Philippe Capron said today that the rulers of the ailing French media and telecommunications giant aren't contemplating a breakup, as better-than-expected second-quarter results reduced investor pressure to pursue quick deals, the Wall Street Journal reports. "Clearly a breakup of the company would lead to very, very great difficulties in terms of the apportionment of the debt," Capron said during a conference call to discuss Q2 results with financial analysts. That should ease the concerns of Universal Music brass, who remain hunkered down in Brussels trying to finalize a divestment package with the EC. UMG generated revenue of 961 million euros ($1206 million), down 7.9% from a year earlier, but the company managed roughly flat operating profit in constant currencies compared with fiscal 2011. But dollying back to the half-year results brightens the picture considerably for UMG. The company posted a 3.2% rise in revenue for the first six months of 2012 (1.922m euros), with an 8.9% rise in digital revenue. Moreover, Universal's EBITA was up a whopping 18.2% (156m euros compared to the first half of 2011), while its margin increased to 8.1% year-over-year. (8/30a)