RJR Plans Layoffs in International Business

RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. said the company’s international tobacco business will lay off 2,600 employees--14% of its foreign work force--in a major restructuring that will also include a $310-million charge against fourth-quarter earnings. Company officials said the job cutbacks will enhance RJR’s competitive position in the increasingly important international tobacco arena and improve its long-term earnings growth prospects. The moves will result in pretax savings of $170 million a year, starting in 2000, it said. RJR’s international division operates in 170 countries and accounts for one-quarter of the firm’s profit. RJR also said its domestic tobacco unit, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., will restructure several parts of its operations, among other things closing a tobacco-leaf-processing facility in Brook Cove, N.C. The closure is expected to result in the layoffs of 190 full-time employees and the elimination of 200 seasonal jobs. The company’s shares fell 13 cents to close at $36.25 on the New York Stock Exchange.