Kraft to Cut About 6,000 Jobs, Profit Off

Jan. 27, 2004

Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT.N), the largest North American food maker, said on Tuesday it would cut about 6,000 jobs globally and take charges of $1.2 billion before taxes, in an effort to offset slowing trends with cost cuts.

The news came as the maker of Oreo cookies, Velveeta cheese spread and Oscar Mayer meats announced fourth-quarter earnings of $869 million, or 50 cents a share, down from $931 million, or 54 cents, in the year-earlier period.

Analysts had expected earnings of 50 cents a share on average, according to a poll by Reuters Research, a unit of Reuters Plc.

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