David Florence has been named president/COO of Draft Inc. He was previously president of Draft International.
Florence will now oversee operations for the entire network with the exception of Draft’s offices in Chicago and New York. Those offices will continue to be led respectively by Yvonne Furth and Laurence Boschetto.
Senior management duties for several Draft subsidiaries including The Sloan Group will also fall under Florence.
Draft’s parent company, The Interpublic Group, reported reported a net loss of $8.6 million or ($.02) per share for the quarter ended March 31, compared to earnings of $59.8 million or $.16 per share in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue at many operations continued to reflect weak demand for services, while costs increased, in part due to higher severance expense and professional fees.
“As I said two months ago on day one, we have major work ahead of us. Interpublic is – and will remain – a work in progress,” said David Bell, chairman and CEO of Interpublic, in a statement.
Despite an ongoing effort to reduce headcount worldwide, the company’s salaries and related expenses for the quarter nevertheless increased 4.5% to $908.2 million, thanks partly to an increase of $13.8 million in severance expense, compared to the year-earlier quarter. At the end of the quarter, worldwide headcount totaled 49,400 compared to 50,800 at year end and 53,000 in March 2002.
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