Dear Fellow Stakeholders,

In 2022, our Company recorded its highest ever net income, demonstrating a full recovery from the COVID pandemic amidst a confluence of macroeconomic headwinds and an Omicron surge early in January. Last year’s results outperformed expectations and were mainly driven by strong consumer spending amidst a wider economic reopening and the Company’s exports undergoing resilient growth. The three biggest business segments of the Company—food ingredients, oleochemicals and other specialty chemicals, and specialty plastics—all booked positive earnings growth for the year which were either at or close to record highs.

D&L’s robust earnings for 2022 demonstrated its ability to weather various macroeconomic conditions given its diversified businesses, the essential nature of the products it manufactures, and its ability to adjust its selling prices regularly.

While macroeconomic risks remain in the form of elevated inflation, the threat of a US recession, and a global banking turmoil, we remain optimistic on the structural growth story of the Company. By the middle of 2023, our plant in Batangas is slated to commence its commercial operations. It will further complement our capabilities that will allow us to increase our relevance in the overall production chain and service new and bigger customers globally.

From a sustainability perspective, the new plant is crucial in our high impact sustainability initiatives where we advocate for a dramatic reduction in the carbon footprint of the coconut oil and derivatives industry, by enabling global brands to buy direct from source. This direct from source approach simply means converting raw materials into finished goods in the country of raw material origin, instead of going through multi-leg production stages which usually happen across different locations in the globe.

We believe that our Batangas facility and our high impact sustainability efforts put us in a very good position as the world shifts towards more sustainable consumption. With a strong conviction in the long-term prospects of the businesses we are in, we look forward with eagerness and hope. We see the coming decade as transformational for us, both from a business and sustainability perspective.

We are deeply grateful for the trust and support given by our shareholders throughout the years. Rest assured that D&L’s management team is working extra hard to continuously enhance shareholder value while building a more sustainable future for all of us.