On March 17, Southern Alliance Mining CEO and executive director Pek Kok Sam acquired 65,000 shares of the Catalist-listed stock for a consideration of S$39,000.

 

At 60.0 cents per share, this took his direct interest in the company from 70.30 per cent to 70.32 per cent.

 

Mr Pek has over 18 years of experience in the mining and exploration of iron ore, tin and limestone industry, with early roots in limestone quarrying activities in Malaysia from 1993 to 2005.

 

He is responsible for the group' s business operations, including quality analysis and control, safety and environment, and site management aspects.

 

On March 13, the group reported H1FY21 (ended Jan 31) net profit of RM51.4 million (S$16.8 million), a 47.0 per cent increase from H1FY19.

 

The company noted that it expects iron ore prices to remain high, driven by the rising demand for steel from China, and supply disruptions from Brazil.

 

With the results, Mr Pek noted that the rising iron ore prices coupled with this rising demand and falling supply has enabled the group to expand its market reach considerably, and it will continue to focus on enhancing its exploration activities at its Chaah Mine.

 

The Chaah Mine is the group' s primary mining asset, an open mine pit consisting of two mining leases and covering an aggregate area of 225.7 hectares.

 

He added that with the Covid-19 pandemic still evolving, the group' s outlook remains cautiously optimistic.

 

The company debuted on the Catalist board on June 26, 2020 with an initial offer price of 25.0 cents.

 

On June 26, Southern Alliance Mining, an established producer of high-grade iron ore products in Malaysia, listed on Catalist. The company is principally involved in the exploration, mining and processing of iron ore. It is currently operating the Chaah Mine in Johor, Malaysia, with the rights to carry out exploration and mining operations at three exploration assets in Johor.

 

Southern Alliance Mining received strong interest from investors and raised gross proceeds of S$19 million. The IPO was priced at approximately 6.13 times price-to-earnings based on the group' s audited profit before tax for its FY19 (ended July 31, 2019), which excludes a one-off tax credit in FY19.