From undertaking sub-contracting works as an operator for limestone mines to becoming a key producer of high-grade iron ore concentrate – we’re going to take you though the ins and outs of SGX-listed Malaysian miner Southern Alliance Mining today.

The story takes us back to 2001, with the incorporation of Southern Alliance Mining’s subsidiary Honest Sam. Then, the firm was primarily involved in subcontracting works for limestone mines in the Malaysian states of Pahang and Perak.

Seven years later in 2008, the company obtained the right to become the mining operator of an open mine pit in Johor called the Chaah Mine.

The mine pit allows for the exploration, extraction and processing of iron ore that could be used by pipe coating companies in the oil and gas industry to prevent corrosion in sub-sea pipes.

Fast forward to today, Southern Alliance Mining not only offers iron ore for pipe coating. It also ventured into iron ore concentrates to diversify business risks, exporting them to markets such as China, before selling the rest to local steel mills in Malaysia.

It currently has approximately 60,000 tonnes of iron ore concentrates, not including pipe coating materials, and has produced and sold a total 6.3 million tonnes of iron ore products between 2008 and July 2021.

The firm recently also reported its earnings for the six months ended January. Revenue declined 23.8% on the year to about RM70.3 million amid weaker iron ore prices as well as slowing demand for China’s steel industry – so how concerned should we be about this?

But what is perhaps more exciting about Southern Alliance Mining is how it is positioning itself for the future.

For one thing, the firm had in April 2023 ventured into rare earth mining after inking two agreements to purchase stakes in iron absorption clay rare-earth mines in Malaysia. Again – what was the rationale behind the move, and how will the move bolster the firm from fluctuations in iron ore prices?

On Under the Radar, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Lim Wei Hung, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Southern Alliance Mining.

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It’s all about food today as we bring you an inside look into what’s said to be the largest supermarket chain in Thailand. And this is a company that you might be very familiar with if you frequent the food halls at Bangkok’s malls.

With operations dating back to 1996, our guest for today is Central Food Retail Company, one of the business units under Thai multinational conglomerate Central Group.

The firm now runs supermarkets and F&B concepts in varying formats, namely: Tops Food Hall, Tops, Tops daily, Tops Online, Central Wine Cellar and Tops Eatery.

Besides that, the company also embarked on a joint venture with Japan’s drugstore chain Matsumoto Kiyoshi in 2015 to open Matsumoto Kiyoshi stores.

But why are we trying to get you hungry by speaking to Central Food Retail at this time of the day? Central Food Retail is an interesting company to talk about given how the firm announced an investment plan of 1.6 billion baht or close to S$63.2 million for 2024.

The investment was in line with the firm’s T-O-P-S strategy to position it as a Truly World-Class Omni-Channel Food Retail player, with an aim to achieve a total of 1,000 stores by 2027.

To this end, the firm is also doubling down on its investments in technology, having in December 2024 teamed up with Google Cloud to launch an AI-powered shopping assistant called ‘Tops Chef Bot’.

With the investments in place, Central Food Retail aims to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 8%. But what should we know about the firm’s progress in bridging its online to offline presence?

On Under the Radar, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Stephane Coum, Chief Executive Officer of Food Group, Central Retail.

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It’s all about family businesses today as we speak to Hong Leong Asia, a part of Singapore-based conglomerate Hong Leong Group.

The firm’s beginnings can be traced back to the early 1900s, when Hong Leong Group’s founder the late Kwek Hong Png boarded a cargo vessel in Xiamen at the age of 16, with only an $8 ticket, a straw mat, a quilt for warmth.

While life was tough, the founder held hopes of making it big in Southeast Asia as he made the arduous journey over to Singapore. That’s where he worked at a hardware store for years before starting Hong Leong in 1941.

The firm was first set up as a general trading firm dealing in ropes, paints, ship and rubber estate supplies. Eventually, the business grew to become one of Singapore’s largest conglomerates, sprawling across industries from property, hotels, financial services and trade and industry.

At its subsidiary Hong Leong Asia, the company prides itself as a diversified Asian multinational with core businesses in the construction and transportation sectors and gross assets of over S$40 billion.

Its business can be classified into two broad categories, namely building materials and powertrain solutions.

Financially, the firm had in February reported a net profit of S$38.2 million for its second half ended December, up 12.2 per cent on the year. The company’s profitability was said to be boosted by strong performances in its powertrain solutions and building materials units, amid improved market conditions in Singapore and Malaysia. But how does the firm assess the road ahead given ongoing trade tensions around the world?

Meanwhile, the issue of governance in family businesses has also come into the spotlight recently – so how does Hong Leong Asia approach the topic of governance and succession planning to ensure that the legacy of its founder lives on?

On Under the Radar, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Stephen Ho, Executive Director & CEO, Hong Leong Asia.

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Today we’re going to catch up with a global executive from one of the world’s top IT services companies.

A part of India’s largest multinational business group, the Tata Group, Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation that has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses in their transformation journeys for over half a century.

That is across a wide range of industries from banking to consumer packaged goods to communications and information services to energy and utilities, and more importantly manufacturing.

The company prides itself with its consulting-led, cognitive powered, portfolio of business, technology and engineering services and solutions, delivered through what it calls a unique Location Independent Agile delivery model.

So far, the company has over 601,000 consultants spread across 55 countries, generating consolidated revenues of US$29 billion in the fiscal year ended March.

Now why are we speaking to Tata Consultancy Services you might ask? Well, the firm is seeing a number of recent developments on the manufacturing front for 2025.

For one thing, Tata Consultancy Services had in February announced a collaboration with Salesforce to help customers in the manufacturing and semiconductor industries drive value from artificial intelligence. But what was the rationale behind the move and how will AI reshape the firm’s growth trajectory?

Meanwhile, Tata Consultancy Services had in January 2025 inaugurated a new delivery centre in Toulouse, France. The center is said to harness next-generation technologies like artificial intelligence, generative AI, machine learning and data analytics to help customers in the aerospace and related industries such as manufacturing and defence.

The question is – how far will the move position the firm for the future as countries in Europe, such as Germany, look to up their defense spending?

On Under the Radar, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Anupam Singhal, Global President of Manufacturing at Tata Consultancy Services.

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Getting investors to meet and support tomorrow’s game changing startups – that’s what we are going to talk about today.

Founded in 2023, our guest A2D Ventures aims to be the region’s leading early stage startup investing platform and angel syndicate, expanding access to innovative companies and democratising venture capital.

At the moment, the firm has a portfolio of 15 companies spread across a wide range of industries such as biotech, proptech, fintech, deeptech as well as aviation and electric vehicles.

Most recently, A2D Ventures had in June 2024 invested in Seaplane Asia, a company that offers air charter and seaplane services connecting islands and coastal areas, in a funding round led by venture capital firm TK & Partners. It had also in May 2024 invested in US sustainable mining startup BANIQL in a US$1.6 million seed round.

But what is A2D Venture’s investment mandate to begin with? Who are the investors under its syndicate, and what is the return on investment they are aiming for? What is the total amount of capital deployed to startups under its portfolio for now?

Meanwhile, A2D Ventures had in January teamed up with InnoSpace Thailand, a public-private joint venture in the country, to come up with Thailand’s next big accelerator.

But what should we know about the accelerator and what synergies will the accelerator bring to A2D Ventures as it sources for the next unicorn in the country?

On Under the Radar, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Ankit Upadhyay, CEO, A2D Ventures.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s all about intellectual property today as we speak to the Asian subsidiary of Japan’s leading entertainment conglomerate Avex Group.

If you’ve been a J-pop fan, you might recall Avex starting out as a wholesaler of imported music records in 1988.

The company has now expanded into diverse business areas such as record labels, live music performances, animation and filmmaking. It also manages music artists such as pop icon Ayumi Hamazaki.

Back to Avex Asia, the subsidiary specialises in brand licensing, artiste management, live events and concerts, anime production, content creation and digital streaming in the region.

It represents some of the world’s top intellectual properties including Pokemon, Rilakkuma, Sumikko Gurashi, Sonic The Hedgehog, Hello Kitty, forming collaborations across broadcasting, consumer products, marketing promotions as well as location-based entertainment.

Now, Avex Asia’s licensing business is one that we want to focus on today, given how Asia is said to contribute over 30 per cent of all franchised businesses worldwide.

But why is Asia a hotspot for franchised business, and what are the trends shaping the franchising and licensing landscape in the region? How is Avex Asia tapping into these trends, and what intellectual properties does Avex Asia want to procure to better serve consumers in the region?

Speaking of acquiring IPs, Avex Asia recently expanded its portfolio to include sports licensing of Spanish Football giant, FC Barcelona for Southeast Asia and Japan. But why did the firm choose to enter into sports licensing and what are the opportunities it sees in sports licensing?

On Under the Radar, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Edmund Low, General Manager, Avex Asia.

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In today’s session, we speak with a trailblazer in the Asian electric vehicle industry to find out all about the new venture he is involved in.

Joining us all the way from Taipei, Jack Cheng is Co-Founder of electric vehicle maker NIO and was formerly the Chairman of Fiat (China) Automobiles, and is now the chairman of a company called M Mobility.

M Mobility is a startup that aims to commercialise ideas formed within a Foxconn-led consortium called MIH platform.

For context, MIH, or Mobility in Harmony Consortium, is an organisation initiated by Foxconn to create an open EV ecosystem that promotes collaboration in the mobility industry.

The consortium realises key technologies, develop reference designs and standards, while bridging the gap between members in the ecosystem to lower barriers to entry, accelerate innovation, and shorten development cycles.

The goal is to bring strategic partners together to build the next generation of EV, autonomous driving and mobility service applications.

So back to M Mobility, the startup crafts EV solutions tailored for mobility service providers and fleet operators. It aims to connect innovative EV designs with the global supply chain. But what does the firm mean exactly by that and what is its value proposition exactly?

Meanwhile, M Mobility had in October 2023 became the first open EV platform licensee of the MIH Consortium. But how has it made use of MIH Consortium’s platform thus far?

What is also worthy of note is that the firm is said to be backed by Indian information technology services and consulting firm Tech Mahindra, and is working with Sumitomo Corporation EV services arm Hakobune to change the way people view mobility. But where do the different players come in to support M Mobility’s growth?

On Under the Radar, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Jack Cheng, Chairman, M Mobility.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve taken you through the ins and outs of over 300 companies globally over the past two years. That’s almost one company every one or two working days – rain or shine.

But there is one company that we have not talked about all this time. And that is the company behind our radio station MONEY FM 89.3. Yes we are talking about the Singapore Press Holdings or more specifically what’s now known as SPH Media.

With its legacy tracing back to the years 1845 and 1923 with the first runs of the English daily The Straits Times and the predecessor of Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao, SPH Media is a leading media group with operations in publishing print and digital newspapers, magazines and books.

The firm started out as SPH Limited in August 1984 where it brought together newspaper brands from two companies, namely The Straits Times Press Group (STP) and the Singapore News and Publications Limited (SNPL), as well as two other publishing, production and distribution companies called Times Publishing Bhd (TP) and Singapore Newspaper Services Pte Ltd (SNS).

At that point, the company published seven newspapers in three languages – The Straits Times, Berita Harian, The Business Times, Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao, Shin Min Daily News and the Singapore Monitor.

The mission is to be the trusted source of news on Singapore and Asia and to represent the communities that make up Singapore and to connect them to the world.

Over four decades have passed since and the business has now expanded to also own and operate radio stations and outdoor media, including MONEY FM 89.3.

SPH Limited also underwent a restructuring of the media business, with SPH Media taking over SPH Limited’s entire media related business and operating as a public company limited by guarantee.

But why are we speaking to SPH Media you might ask? Well, we want to find out how SPH Media is preparing for the future as media companies around the world transform their century old business models in a digital world.

We also want to talk about the rise in news consumption through social media platforms and what that means for traditional media. Also on the agenda – how the rise in social media usage changes the way mainstream media outlets create, promote and distribute their news stories.

On Under the Radar, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Chan Yeng Kit, CEO, SPH Media.

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