Malaysia's Tanjung Offshore Diversifies into Education, Training

Tanjung Offshore Berhad, a Malaysian offshore oil and gas services provider, entered Monday into a Memorandum of Understanding with two experts in education, Arnez Desmond George Fernandez and Imran Asif Bin Abdul Rahim, to jointly explore business opportunities and collaboration in education and training development through a joint venture company Hills Education Group Sdn Bhd (HEG), the firm said in a filing with local stock exchange Bursa Malaysia.

"This joint venture marks a very exciting time for Tanjung Offshore ... We are making good on our promise to diversify and this education initiative will lead Tanjung Offshore to new, profitable areas to expand our portfolio that will see better returns to shareholders and employees," CEO Rahmandin Md Shamsudin said, as quoted Monday in local daily The Star.

Tanjung Offshore is diversifying from its core petroleum services business due to the prolonged slump in global oil prices, which has led many firms worldwide to seek alternative revenue streams to ride out the downturn. The company incurred net loss of $1.14 million (MYR 4.69 million) in first quarter 2016 (1Q 2016), compared to a net loss of $480,000 (MYR 1.97 million) in 1Q 2015.