Ex-Neda chief new DNL director

FORMER Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua was elected to the board of chemical manufacturer D and L Industries Inc. as independent director.

Chua, who officially became a DNL board member during the company’s stockholders’ meeting last Monday, replaces Filemon T. Berba, who served on the company’s board from 2012 until his passing on April 4.

“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,” DNL President and CEO Alvin D. Lao said.

“With independent directors continuing to hold a majority of our board, the company remains committed to upholding good governance and transparency,” Lao said.

Board members

DNL has seven board members, four of whom are independent directors. The three other independent directors are Mercedita S. Nolledo, Corazon S. de la Paz-Bernardo and Lydia R. Balatbat-Echauz.

The others are members of the Lao family led by Yin Yong L. Lao as its chairman, John L. Lao as vice chairman and Alvin D. Lao. Dean L. Lao sits as the company’s chairman emeritus.

Chua, 44, 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.

Record dividend

IN the same shareholders’ meeting, DNL 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.

In total, shareholders will receive a P 0.30 dividend per share, or a dividend yield of 4.3 percent based on the June 2 closing price of P6.99 per share. This year’s dividend amounting to P2.14 billion, or an increase of 25 percent from last year’s P1.71 billion, is equivalent to 65 percent 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 it went public in 2012. The company also paid a 100 percent stock dividend in September 2015.