Broadway Industrial Group

Mainboard-listed precision manufacturer Broadway Industrial Group said yesterday that it has appointed Mr Tan Choon Hoong, 56, as its chief executive officer.

Mr Tan will be responsible for providing leadership in the development of strategic plans to advance the group's mission and objectives, the company said. "He is also accountable for achieving revenue, profitability and growth targets of the group, ensuring production efficiency, quality, service and cost-effective management of resources."

He has a master's in business administration from Preston University. Prior to joining Broadway Industrial, he was CEO and executive director of Shenzhen Zesum Polytron Technologies from last year to this year.

Before that, he was with Belton Technology Group from 1998 to last year, rising through the ranks from general manager to vice-president of corporate sales and marketing, group business development.

Broadway Industrial was added to the Singapore Exchange watch-list on June 6 for failing to meet the minimum trading price criterion. It sank into the red for its first quarter ended March 31, with a net loss of $5.1 million compared with a net profit of $588,000 a year ago. This was due to unexpected weakness in the hard disk drive market.

Suzuki Motor Corp

Suzuki Motor Corp yesterday reported a 46.2 per cent fall in first-quarter operating profit, hurt by lower output at home as it improves its inspection systems, and falling demand in India, its biggest market.

Reuters reported that Japan's fourth-largest automaker posted an operating profit of 62.7 billion yen (S$818.6 million) for the April-June quarter. This is down from 116.5 billion yen a year earlier and below a mean forecast of 69.09 billion from eight analysts.

Suzuki reaffirmed its forecast for full-year operating profit to come in at 330 billion yen, up 1.7 per cent from the year ended March 2019.

Suzuki, known for its Swift and Baleno compact models, is bracing itself for subdued growth this year in India, where roughly one in two cars sold carries its brand.

The firm stuck to a forecast for vehicle sales to increase slightly on the year, but conceded it may need to trim its forecasts in the coming months as slowing economic growth and stricter emissions standards could dent sales.

Slowing profit growth could hamper its ability to invest in and develop lower-emissions vehicles and on-demand transportation services necessary to survive the technological upheaval currently under way in the global auto industry.