P. M. BRIEFING : Quaker Oats Co. to Reorganize; Hundreds of Layoffs Expected

Quaker Oats Co., whose earnings have been dragged down by its soon-to-be-shed Fisher-Price toy unit, said today that it will reorganize its businesses and lay off several hundred workers over the next year.

The food processing company, whose brands include Quaker Oats, Life and Cap’n Crunch cereals, Aunt Jemima, Celeste frozen pizza, Gatorade, Rice-A-Roni, Ken-L Rations and Gaines-Burgers, also said it expects to report flat to slightly lower profits for its fiscal year ending June 30.

For fiscal 1989, the Chicago-based company reported earnings of $2.88 a share and sales of $4.9 billion.

The 1989 results exclude results from Quaker’s Fisher-Price operation, which is now reported as a discontinued business since the company previously said it would spin off the toy division to Quaker shareholders.

Quaker’s efforts to shed its non-food operations follow an industry trend to move “back to the basics.”