Message from the Board of Directors

Dear Shareholders,

In 2023, the overall situation began to return to normal. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that has continued since 2019 has greatly reduced in severity. Although the number of cases has not yet reached zero, the infection has begun to take an endemic form, resulting in an increased number of tourists traveling abroad. In 2023, the number of foreign tourist travelling to Thailand has begun to increase. The service sector has expanded and the Thai economy has started to improve slightly. However, although the Thai economy has started to show signs of recovery, there are still various external factors that continue to affect the overall business operations, such as the geopolitical impact from the unrest in the Middle East which slows down the global economic recovery, the rising energy prices that affect inflation, or the interest rates that continue to rise.

The office building business in Thailand continued to face challenges from the increasing supply of office buildings which has resulted in an intense competition. Meanwhile, the behavior of office building tenants or office building users remained diverse – there were both those who have returned to the office and those who continued to implement the Work from Home or Work from Anywhere policy. This posed a challenge to the Grand Canal Land Public Company Limited (the "Company") to develop and upgrade the office building business, which is considered as the core business of the Company, to be able to meet the needs of both existing and new tenants and users. The Company has studied ways to develop and upgrade services in both office building and retail businesses to support one another and enhance competitiveness amid market conditions where supply is likely to increase, so that the Company's office buildings will remain at the top of the mind for tenants and users. In addition, the Company continues to focus on cost management for maximum efficiency by implementing prudent management policies in all its businesses.

For the overall performance in 2023, the Company's total revenue stood at 1,663 million Baht, an increase of 3% from the previous year, mainly from the rental and service business, which is the Company's core business. Although the overall occupancy rate of office buildings has decreased, the Company's rental rate has improved slightly higher than the market. For the real estate business, the number of transfers in the Nirati Don Mueang project has increased compared to 2022. However, the Company had administrative costs and expenses of 716 million Baht, an increase of 5% from the previous year due to the cost and expenses of Nirati Donmuang project which increased in line with the increase in project transfer income. The Company was able to maintain its operating profit margin at the same level as the previous year in line with the plan. One of the main factors was that the Company still managed to control administrative expenses effectively.

The Company remains focused on maintaining and generating strong and continuous business growth. At the same time, the interests of all stakeholders is still a top priority, along with the commitment to good corporate governance principles that the Company continues to emphasize and communicate to both directors and employees. In 2023, the Company, together with Central Pattana Public Company Limited ("Central Pattana"), organized the first Corporate Governance Day (CG Day) activity to promote the understanding and importance of conducting business with transparency and equal consideration for all stakeholders.

In addition to the principles of good corporate governance, sustainable development or sustainable growth is also another important issue that the Company aims to cultivate and raise awareness both internally and externally. Within the organization, the Company has implemented measures to reduce energy consumption, including energy reuse, to achieve maximum potential with the least amount of resources, such as setting environmental targets in terms of reducing energy use in air conditioning systems and common areas, and reviewing the Company's energy-saving measures to be more efficient, including additional management of work processes, such as more efficient waste management. For external personnel, the Company has organized various activities that promote sustainable development practices, such as hosting a blood donation center to support everyone to be a "Giver" by coordinating with the Thai Red Cross Society to accept blood donations at the Company’s building throughout the year, and organizing "Better Future Project" by inviting office tenant partners to exchange guidelines or operational policies on sustainable development.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank all shareholders and stakeholders who have always supported the Company's operations, as well as all executives and employees for their dedication to create strong growth for the Company and the determination to jointly emphasize the importance of using resources wisely as the Company believes that good growth must also take into account the environment. The Company would like to assure that the Board of Directors, executives and employees will perform their duties in the best possible manner, with the utmost care while taking into account the interests of all stakeholders.