Dreyer’s Shares Fall on Profit, Sales Warning

Shares of Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Inc., the nation’s largest ice cream maker, fell about 14% after it said a price increase hurt its second-quarter profit and sales. Dreyer’s shares fell $3.19 to close at $19.94 on Nasdaq. The company raised the wholesale price of its Dreyer’s and Edy’s brand ice creams during the quarter to help offset increasing cream prices. Some of its competitors, though, haven’t raised prices. As a result, Dreyer’s has lost sales, and earnings will be “significantly lower” than what the company expected. “This could affect the next quarter and could affect the entire year,” spokesman William Collett said. The Oakland-based company earned $6.2 million, or 35 cents a share, in the same period last year. The company blamed the price increase on large export sales of butter at subsidized prices, which reduced U.S. inventories early in the year.