Monday 07 / July / 2025
Muscat: Leading Omani multinational the Renaissance Group listed on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) as “Renaissance Services SAOG” held its 22nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Capital Market Authority Hall, Muscat, on Wednesday, March 28, 2018, followed by a meeting of investors and analysts.
The group has two core businesses—Topaz and Renaissance.
Topaz operates a modern, young and diverse fleet of over 100 offshore support vessels (OSV) for the oil and gas sector, primarily located in the Caspian and Middle East and North Africa (Mena) markets.
Renaissance services business offers strategic and integrated facilities management solutions for businesses in a wide range of sectors and geographies. Renaissance provides contract services, IFM, and runs the Renaissance Village brand, which is a uniquely designed workforce accommodation solution, and Renaissance Duqm Village, which is state-of-the-art largest PAC in Oman.
The clients include government, universities and hospitals, ports, industries in diversified sectors, onshore and offshore hydrocarbon development and the military.
The Topaz market outlook is decidedly more positive going into 2018, when compared with 2017. However, industry conditions are expected to be difficult in the short term. The company, however, anticipates a positive trend in the utilisation of its vessels and an improvement in the company’s ability to build further contract cover.
The recovery in oil prices, accompanied by growing utilisation and demand, leads Topaz to believe the company has passed the peak impairment levels of 2016. In the third quarter, Topaz announced a strategically important contract win with Total in Azerbaijan. The win results from Topaz’s global relationship with Total, established through successfully supporting Total’s operations in West Africa and the Middle East. This newly established relationship in Azerbaijan shows great promise for further growth.
The $550 million Tengiz project in Kazakhstan is progressing well ahead of schedule and within budget. As a result, two vessels have commenced operations earlier than anticipated. The overall construction of the module carrying vessels (MCVs) continues with remaining deliveries scheduled over the next six months. Topaz’s strong performance under the contract is expected to further broaden the company’s opportunities with both Chevron and ExxonMobil. Topaz’s total revenue backlog remains at a market leading $1.5 billion — significantly, $1 billion of this will be invoiced over the next three years. This means the company has already secured revenue greater than 2017 in each of the next three years. In addition, the company has built a very healthy bidding pipeline, underscoring the company’s positive outlook.
Renaissance Contract Services has maintained top line and improved bottom line. The company’s business strategy is to diversify the range of its services, sectors and geography. While this reduces exposure to the oil and gas industry, the sector remains the dominant player in the company’s portfolio. So, this business is also not immune to the oil price volatility and the significant increase in the cost of doing business in our dominant home market of Oman. The company is focused on growth and efficiency to mitigate and outpace further cost impacts expected to show up.
Performance, in the company’s core facilities management services businesses and occupancy in the flagship Renaissance Villages in the oilfields, remains stable. The company has absorbed the increased cost of doing business in its core markets, offset by improved efficiency.
The successful mobilisation of Renaissance Village Duqm in February 2017, with the project delivered in cost and recognised as a game-changing Domestic Direct Investment (DDI) by Renaissance and its partners, is a boost for Duqm and Oman and demonstrates a world-class capability to deliver high standards of workforce accommodation, at a lower cost than a non-sustainable investment in a temporary porta-cabin camp for the duration of a project.
Competition in services tenders is fierce, with squeezed margins. However, the principal negative effect on performance is the initial loss-making period expected with the build-up of occupancy of the new flagship project, Renaissance Village Duqm.
Moving forward, the company’s strategy is to diversify and strengthen its capability, reputation and delivery of service solutions in Soft FM (Contact services), Hard FM (CMMS; IOT and branded homecare services), IFM (Turnkey solutions for clients’ non-core activities but uniquely, avoiding margins on margins, due to the ability to provide most of the Soft and Hard FM outsource solutions in-house) and Accommodation Solutions (Renaissance Villages [formerly PAC] – workforce, military, student and other turnkey accommodation solutions).
In 2017, the company capitalised its two flagship projects — Renaissance Village Duqm and TengizChevrOil. This would never have been possible without the unstinting confidence and support of the company’s all-important financial stakeholders. Therefore, the company’s focus remains fixed on sustaining its liquidity position and meeting all its commitments within the financial eco-system. The key stakeholders’ continued belief in the company and these major projects are providing a segway to the rewards that the company believes shall start to flow in the second half of 2018, which will ultimately restore shareholder value.
“Our company is sustained by the strength of its relationships with all key stakeholders. These relationships are as strong as ever, because our stakeholders recognise and understand the value of our company. Our stakeholders understand the temporary nature of the industry crisis. They recognise the stability and strength with which we are meeting all our obligations, and they see the same strong future that lies ahead,” Renaissance management said in its press release.
