Message from the Board of Directors

Dear Shareholders,

You may well remember what we shared with you in our 2022 Message from the Board of Directors namely that the challenges we experienced in 2022 would continue unabated into 2023 as both global geopolitical risks would likely remain unresolved as would the regional political and economic threats continue to influence our business in the countries we are operating in.

In fact, geopolitical risks have massively increased with the outbreak of the war in the Gaza territory with yet unknown consequences on the security of energy supplies and shipping traffic both vital for the emerging countries in South East Asia depending on their flow of export through the Red Sea.

Sadly, the economic environments in the countries we are operating in and the countries we have been exporting our products to are all in weaker conditions than a year ago and recovery in these countries will likely be slow and painful as corporate and business restructurings will have to continue.

The year under reporting has already been a year of massive business and organizational restructurings in our Group as we simply had to adjust to new economic realities and market conditions which have structurally changed in the last couple of years. As we do not see a return to the high growth environments which our industry could enjoy ten and more years ago, the new realities are here to stay, and much more will have to be done by our Group to remain competitive in the businesses and countries we are operating in.

Such higher macro risks in a slow growth environment are setting very demanding conditions for our Management as we need to drive our competitiveness through continued cost reductions and business innovation initiatives.

2024 will certainly be another year requiring painful adjustments which must be fully embraced by the entire organization to prepare the Group for the future full of new demands.

As we are progressing our transformational journey in shaping the competitiveness of our business operations for the future, we are also accelerating our sustainability initiatives to reduce our CO2 footprint across the Group mainly through expanding our investments in renewable energy sources such as in the new Solar Farm at Saraburi.

The Board of Directors is pleased to report a net profit after tax attributable to equity holders of THB 2,682 million compared to THB 1,857 million in 2022. In view of the continued challenges the businesses of the Group are facing, and in order to strengthen the financial position of the Group in the increasingly volatile business environments, the Board of Directors has decided to recommend a full year dividend of THB 7 per share to the Shareholders for approval at the AGM.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I wish to thank all our employees for the dedicated engagement and contributions to make our Group fit for the future as we are on a journey fully committed despite all the adversities surrounding us. We also like to thank all our shareholders for their continued support, all our business partners for upholding highest standards of professionalism in all we do together, and the public at large for their support in the places our operations are at home.