	pillsbury psy hurt by restaurant operations pillsbury corp reporting lower ings for the third quarter ended february said a strong performance by its foods group was offset by restaurants group declines excluding unusual items it said restaurants operating profit was down in the quarter pct from a year ago as sales rose four pct it said burger king usa and bennigan s reported higher operating profit but profits fell sharply at steak and ale which introduced a new menu pillsbury also reported lower profits at distron burger king s distribution arm and said increased investment spending on developing concepts quikwok bay street and key west grill hurt results it said foods operating profit excluding unusual items rose pct with international operations and domestic breads and baking products major contributors to improvement in the quarter a turnaround in grain merchandising was a major factor in profit improvement for the nine months pillsbury said pillsbury said corporate expense showed a mln dlr profit in the quarter reflecting a mln dlr gain on the sale of a joint interest in an australian food company and lower corporate expenses largely as a result of an early retirement program initiated a year ago earlier pillsbury reported fourth quarter ings of mln dlrs or cts a share down from mln dlrs or cts a share a year ago sales advanced to billion dlrs from billion dlrs pillsbury said loss of investment tax credits under the federal tax reform act reduced per share ings by nine cts in the quarter and cts in the nine months as a result of the act it said its effective income tax rate rose eight points to pct in the quarter and percentage points to pct for the nine months reuter 
