• by Paul Gough , May 9, 2004

Interpublic Group of Cos. loss rose in the first quarter as it continued to wrestle with charges related to its restructuring.

The holding company, which owns Initiative Media and Universal McCann among other agencies, registered a net loss of $16.9 million/5 cents a share in the first quarter, compared to $8.6 million/2 cents a share during the same period a year ago. The loss was related to restructuring costs, including a pretax charge of $62.6 million and a non-cash asset-impairment charge of $5.6 million.

First-quarter revenues rose from $1.32 billion in the first quarter of 2003 to $1.4 billion this past quarter. There were some bright spots, including a 3.9 percent increase in revenue from the United States (including Initiative, Universal McCann, and MAGNA Global). Organic revenue continued to look better in the first quarter, with growth essentially flat compared to a decrease of 6 percent in organic revenue in the first quarter of 2003.

New business wins were a CRM consolidation at Microsoft, Miller Genuine Draft, Allstate, Marriott, and CVS. Media wins included Interbrew and Levi Strauss, plus the retention of the agency of record for American Online and Verizon Wireless in the second quarter.

Debt dropped as well, from $3.3 billion in the first quarter of 2003 to $2.3 billion as of March 31.

Interpublic is the second-largest holding company behind Omnicom. It's also the last holding company to report for the first quarter.

Most of the agencies reported better results in the first quarter of 2004, including Grey Global, Omnicom, WPP Group PLC, and Havas. Even at Publicis, which owns Zenith Optimedia and Starcom MediaVest Group, the revenue picture was clouded by unfavorable exchange rates in the first quarter. Organic revenues rose 4.2 percent.