RJR Loss Narrows in Second Quarter

RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp., which recently announced plans to refinance part of the $25 billion spent to take the company private last year, Monday reported a much narrower quarterly loss on strong sales at its core food and tobacco businesses.

The New York-based giant posted a second-quarter loss of $108 million, compared to a loss of $319 million in the year-ago period.

Its quarterly sales climbed to $3.46 billion from $3.30 billion in the year-earlier quarter.

“By any measure, RJR Nabisco had a very successful quarter,” Chairman and Chief Executive Louis Gerstner said. “Both free cash flow and operating income were up strongly. New product introductions remained at a high level in both food and tobacco operations and margins continue to improve across the board.”