RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. on Monday reported...

RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. on Monday reported profits for the final quarter and full year 1991--a dramatic turnaround from losses the previous year.

At the same time that it was chalking up the improvement, the tobacco and food giant continued to aggressively pay down debt from its massive leveraged buyout.

RJR reported a fourth-quarter profit of $161 million, or 14 cents a share, against a loss of $13 million, or 14 cents a share, in the 1990 quarter. Revenue advanced 8% to $3.98 billion from $3.69 billion a year earlier.

For all of 1991, the company reported a profit of $368 million, or 22 cents a share, contrasted with a loss of $429 million, or $1.11 a share, in 1990. Sales for the year were up 8% to $14.99 from $13.88 billion the previous year.

RJR Nabisco was the most active issue on the New York Stock Exchange, closing up 25 cents a share at $10.50.

Chairman and Chief Executive Louis V. Gerstner Jr. called 1991 “a milestone year.” He said the company put the $25-billion leveraged buyout that saddled it with debt “behind us several years ahead of schedule.” The buyout, the largest in U.S. corporate history, took place in 1987.