P.M. BRIEFING : Ad Giant Saatchi’s Profits Dip 70%

British advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi Co. PLC today reported an almost 70% drop in profits and said it might shed its consulting division.

The company said in a statement that it has appointed a U.S. investment bank, the Blackstone Group, to develop proposals to float off its consultancy unit.

Saatchi entered the consultancy business in 1984 and last year said the division was the 10th-largest in the world. But the advertising group was said to be increasingly disappointed with results from the consulting unit, and its sale has been rumored.

The company’s financial results, released today, showed a sharp drop in earnings as pretax profit after exceptional items plunged from $95.9 million to $30.7 million in the six months ended March 31.