Food and beverage maker Pepsi plans to cut 750 jobs, close Kentucky snacks plant

<br>NEW YORK (AP) _ PepsiCo Inc. plans to cut 750 jobs and close a snack manufacturing plant in Kentucky as part of a plan to streamline its snack food and beverage operations. <br><br>The maker of Pepsi,

Tuesday, December 2nd 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ PepsiCo Inc. plans to cut 750 jobs and close a snack manufacturing plant in Kentucky as part of a plan to streamline its snack food and beverage operations.

The maker of Pepsi, Gatorade and Tropicana drinks and Frito-Lay snacks also said Tuesday it was reaffirming its earnings outlook for 2003 and expects double-digit growth in earnings per share in 2004.

The company, based in Purchase, said most of the 750 job cuts, representing about a half percent of its worldwide work force of 142,000 people, would come in its North American operations.

The Frito-Lay snack plant in Louisville, Ky., will be closed in the first quarter of 2004 and the company will trim some jobs in Aberdeen, Md., and Jonesboro, Ark. Those three moves will affect 330 jobs.

Production from the Louisville plant will be redirected to other facilities in Jonesboro and in Fayetteville, Tenn., Lynchburg, Va., Charlotte, N.C., and Frankfort, Ind., the company said.

The company did not say where the other jobs were being cut.

PepsiCo plans to consolidate its juice holdings into a single segment within its North American beverage business and transfer an unspecified number of headquarters employees from its Tropicana offices in Bradenton, Fla., to the Chicago area. Its Tropicana manufacturing and distribution facilities with 1,900 employees will remain in Bradenton, however.