Mar 15, 2004 12:17 PM, from staff and wire reports

Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Holdings Inc, a producer and distributor of ice cream and frozen dessert products, announced results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Dec 27, 2003. These results reflect the June 26, 2003, combination of Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Inc (DGIC) and Nestle Ice Cream Co (NICC), Nestle's United States frozen dessert business. As a result of this combination, the new entity, Dreyer's Holdings, is the parent company of DGIC and NICC.

Total net revenues increased $587,530,000, or 97%, to $1,190,561,000 for the year ended Dec 27, 2003, from $603,031,000 for the year ended Dec 31, 2002.

The company's gross profit rose by $81,379,000 to $185,366,000 for 2003, and represented a 16% gross margin compared with a 17% gross margin for 2002.

Operating results of Dreyer's presented for the fourth quarter and full year 2003 period are not directly comparable with results of either NICC or DGIC for the corresponding periods.