Ube Industries Ltd. (TYO:4208) recently released its business results for the first half of fiscal 2019, posting year-on-year decreases in sales and most profit metrics. The company achieved 335.06 billion yen ($3.08 billion) in sales for the half, down 3.8 percent from the same period last year; 16.76 billion yen in operating profit, up 11.4 percent year-on-year; 16.64 billion yen…