Bertelsmann reported results for the first six months of the year, including the last financial report for Random House Inc. as a standalone company, covering the period right up to the merger with Penguin. Sales were “slightly lower” than last year’s record first half, falling 32 million euros (or 3.4 percent) to 915 million euros for the period. Operating EBIT “soared” by 4 million euros (or 3.5 percent) to a mid-year record of 117 million euros. Among the major contributors were sales of “more than four million” English-language units of Dan Brown’s INFERNO in the first six weeks on sale, […]