The book publisher (and parent company of Penguin) reported in a statement yesterday that it earned 1.88 billion pounds of revenue in the six months to June 30, with adjusted profit before tax of 31 million. Both figures were ahead of analysts’ forecasts. The London-based company, which is the world’s biggest publisher of educational materials, remained confident it could hit full-year targets after achieving 8 percent first-half revenue growth, with the lion’s share of profit due in the second half.