The parent company of Penguin Books reports that its first nine months were particularly strong, with total sales up 11% and operating profit up 26%. Underlying sales went up 5% and underlying operating profit up 15%, its highest profits ever. As for the book publishing arm, sales are up 2% thanks to more award wins, such as the Booker Prize for Kiran Desai‘s THE INHERITANCE OF LOSS, after Penguin authors already won the Pulitzer Prize, two Whitbread Book of the Year Awards and two Orange Prizes earlier this year. “For the full year we continue to expect Penguin to achieve similar sales growth as in 2005, with margins improving further,” they predict.