P.M. BRIEFING : Losses Prompt 30% Pay Cuts at Top of Saatchi Ad Agency

Saatchi and Saatchi Co. PLC today announced 30% salary cuts for founders Charles and Maurice Saatchi and several other steps designed to help turn around the troubled British advertising agency.

Maurice Saatchi, who is chairman of Saatchi’s board of directors, and, Charles Saatchi, a director, will see their annual salaries cut to about $699,000 from $1 million.

Other board members are to take a 10% cut to help raise cost-consciousness at the company, Saatchi said at its annual shareholders meeting.

Saatchi also announced the appointment of two Americans to its board of directors, Harvard University business Prof. Theodore Levitt and Tom Russell, chairman of Applied Bioscience International Inc. of New Jersey.

Saatchi also said it was close to completing the sale of its major consulting businesses, and announced it agreed to sell the U.S. agency McCaffrey and McCall to its management for an undisclosed price. Madison Avenue has been speculating about the McCaffrey and McCall sale for the past several months.

Saatchi lost $94 million in its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, and its share price has fallen sharply in recent months.