BW Real 500 - Non Financial #6: Rajesh Exports Shines Bright

Bengaluru-headquartered Rajesh Exports has an extensive global manufacturing and marketing network with distribution through exports, wholesale and directly to consumers by own retail brand. It is also the world’s largest refiner of gold and refines more than 35 per cent of world’s gold and is a regular presence in the BW ‘Real’ 500 list. The company’s refineries are located at Balerna in Switzerland and Uttarakhand, with a cumulative capacity to refine 2,400 tonne of the precious metal per annum. 

Rajesh Exports is also the world’s lowest cost producer of gold products by virtue of robust systems and advanced technology for production and strong R&D facility at Bengaluru and Balerna. It is constantly engaged in developing new designs and processes and technology for refining and manufacture of gold jewellery, leading to a portfolio of more than a million designs. 

Since inception, Rajesh Exports has consistently demonstrated profitable growth and it is a regular dividend paying company with 100 per cent dividend payout over the past 11 years.

During the financial year, Rajesh Exports' consolidated net profit dropped 29.88 per cent to Rs. 845.54 crore. But its net revenue saw a big jump of 32 per cent to Rs 258,313 crore in FY21 over FY20. The company’s order book position as on 31 March 2021 was Rs 45,273 crore.

Rajesh Mehta, Chairman, Rajesh Exports, said: "The pandemic had an impact throughout the last financial year on the businesses globally. In spite of the lockdowns and the impact of the pandemic, Rajesh Exports has been able to achieve decent growth in revenues and has also achieved decent profits. We are hoping that in the current financial year the situation would be better and we will be able to achieve our set targets."

Zero Debt Company

Rajesh Exports is a zero-debt company. It continues to be the single largest constituent of the global gold business. The company is the only one with presence across the value chain of gold, from mining till its own retail brand. It has become the largest refiner in the world with the acquisition of Valcambi, the world’s largest gold refiner in Switzerland. The gold bars produced at Valcambi are good delivery bars, and accepted across all the precious metal exchanges of the world and by all the bullion banks. Across its various manufacturing facilities Rajesh Exports has an installed capacity to manufacture 400 tonne of world-class gold products per annum.

The company has set up the world’s finest R&D facilities in Switzerland and in India for developing new designs and for evolving innovative manufacturing processes. The company exports its products to various countries around the world; it also supplies its products to bullion banks, central banks, wholesale jewellery trade and retail jewellery trade. Rajesh Exports has set up 83 retail jewellery showrooms under the brand name of Shubh Jewellers, one of the most trusted household jewellery brand names in South India and known for quality, designs and value-for-money prices of its products. 

The company has put in place an expansion plan, under which over the next three years the Shubh Jewellers brand will be expanded from 83 retail showrooms at present to 500 show rooms across the five southern Indian states. These five states account for the highest consumption of gold across India. In the second phase, the company will further scale up to 1,500 retail showrooms across north, east, west and central India. This will be followed by two more phases in which the company will add 500 showrooms outside India — across Asia, the US and Europe, according to Mehta.