June 5, 2023 – In its annual shareholder’s meeting held on June 5, 2023, a new independent director, Mr. Karl Kendrick T. Chua, was elected to D&L Industries’ Board of Directors. With Mr. Chua on the Board, four out of seven seats or a majority of the board continue to be held by independent directors. The three other independent directors are Atty. Mercedita S. Nolledo, Mrs. Corazon S. de la Paz-Bernardo, and Dr. Lydia R. Balatbat-Echauz.
Mr. Chua was previously with the World Bank as an economist, and more recently served as Secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority and Undersecretary for Strategy, Economics, and Results at the Department of Finance. He has extensive experience in the areas of economic and fiscal policy, statistical development, national identification, labor and social protection policy, poverty analysis, and digital transformation, among others. He is a recipient of the 2018 Outstanding Young Men and Women of the Philippines (TOYM) Award in the field of Economic Development.
Mr. Chua will take the place of Mr. Filemon T. Berba, who served on D&L’s Board from 2012 until his passing last April 4, 2023. D&L’s management would like to honor Mr. Berba for his invaluable contributions to the company’s Board. Mr. Berba, with his wealth of leadership experience, vision, and dedication, played a key role in D&L’s initiatives of upholding the highest standards of corporate governance in the company.
“We are pleased to welcome Karl to our Board of Directors. He brings a fresh perspective with his distinguished experience as an economist, working for the World Bank for over a decade and serving the government in various strategic leadership roles thereafter,” remarked D&L President & CEO Alvin Lao. “With independent directors continuing to hold a majority of our Board, the company remains committed to upholding good governance and transparency.” Lao concluded.
In the same shareholders’ meeting, D&L announced a record dividend of P0.30 per share consisting of a regular cash dividend of P0.24 per share plus a special cash dividend of P0.06 per share to shareholders of record as of June 20. Ex-date is on June 15 and payment will be made on July 14.
Management remains highly committed to its dividend policy of a 50% payout ratio based on prior year’s net income. D&L has also been able to declare special dividends for three years in a row now since it was paused in 2020 due to the uncertainties brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the completion of the Batangas plant by the middle of the year, the company’s capex is expected to start decreasing immediately which, in turn, will most likely result in positive free cash flow (FCF) for the company starting this year. In fact, in the first quarter of 2023, the company’s FCF turned positive for the first time in two years, at P890 million. As there are no other major capex planned aside from the expansion plan in Batangas, the improvement in cash flows gives the company the financial flexibility to further reduce debt levels over time and continue paying dividends.
In total, shareholders will receive a P 0.30 dividend per share, or a dividend yield of 4.3% based on June 2’s closing price of P6.99 per share. This year’s dividend amounting to P2.14 billion or an increase of 25% from last year’s P1.71 billion, is equivalent to 65% of last year’s recurring income.
Including this year’s payment, the Company has returned a total of P15.3 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends since the IPO in 2012. The company also paid a 100% stock dividend in September 2015.
Karl Kendrick T. Chua, Filipino, 44, is a former Secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority and Undersecretary for Strategy, Economics, and Results at the Department of Finance. He has extensive experience in the areas of economic and fiscal policy, statistical development, national identification, labor and social protection policy, poverty analysis, and digital transformation, among others.
He is currently a board director of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and a board adviser to the LH Paragon Group of Companies. Mr. Chua was a senior official in the Government of the Philippines for six years. As Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning and Chief Economist of the country, he provided strategic leadership on economic policy during the Covid-19 pandemic and the further liberalization of key sectors of the economy. He also oversaw the implementation of the national ID program. As Undersecretary in the Department of Finance, he led the technical team in the passage of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program and the Rice Tariffication Law. Prior to joining the government, he was with the World Bank for 12 years and was the senior economist for the Philippines.
Mr. Chua graduated from the Ateneo De Manila University in 2000 with a degree in B.S. Management Engineering. He earned his M.A. Economics (2003) and Ph.D Economics (2011) from the University of the Philippines, and is currently studying data science at the Asian Institute of Management.
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D&L Industries is a Filipino company engaged in product customization and specialization for the food, chemicals, plastics and consumer products ODM industries. The company’s principal business activities include manufacturing of customized food ingredients, specialty raw materials for plastics, and oleochemicals for personal and home care use. Established in 1963, D&L has the largest market share in most of the industries it serves, as well as long-standing customer relationships with the Philippines’ leading consumer and manufacturing companies. It was listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange in December 2012. For more information, please visit https://www.dnl.com.ph/investors/.
This press release may contain some “forward-looking statements” which are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could affect D&L’s business and results of operations. Although D&L believes that expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are reasonable, D&L does not guarantee future performance, action or events.
INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT
Crissa Marie U. Bondad
Investor Relations Manager – D&L Industries Inc.
+632 8635 0680
crissabondad@dnl.com.ph / ir@dnl.com.ph