Forbes reports that Lagardere SCA, parent company of Hachette Book Group and its UK arm, said first half sales were up 6.8 pct from a year earlier, to 3.955 bln eur, aided by the consolidation of Warner Book Group. The book publishing business had sales growth of 10.6 pct, to 897 mln eur. Like-for-like growth was 1.7 pct, in line with company expectations.