Breaking Down Rajesh Exports Limited Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors

From a modest Bangalore gold unit founded in 1989 by brothers Rajesh and Prashant Mehta to a global powerhouse listed as RAJESHEXPO.NS, Rajesh Exports' rise is marked by bold moves - opening its first retail outlet in 1990, scaling manufacturing by 2001, raising $134.9 million in 2011 via FCCB conversion, and acquiring Switzerland's Valcambi for $400 million in 2015; today it refines roughly 35% of the world's gold with > 2,400 tons annual precious metals capacity, a promoter holding of 54.55%, an integrated model spanning refining, manufacturing and retail (over 80 SHUBH Jewellers showrooms), a global client base including bullion and central banks, and a strategic focus on innovation, sustainability and customer-centricity that fuels multiple revenue streams from refining, exports, wholesale and retail sales

Rajesh Exports Limited (RAJESHEXPO.NS): Intro

• 1989 - Founded in Bangalore by brothers Rajesh Mehta and Prashant Mehta as a small gold manufacturing unit.
• 1990 - Opened the first retail outlet, entering the retail gold market.
• 2001 - Established a large-scale manufacturing facility in Bangalore, substantially increasing production capacity.
• 2007 - Issued foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) later converted in 2011.
• 2011 - Converted FCCBs issued in 2007, raising approximately $134.9 million and strengthening the balance sheet.
• 2015 - Acquired Valcambi (Switzerland), the world's largest gold refinery, for about $400 million, adding global refining capability.
• By 2025 - Grew into one of the world's largest gold processors, reported to refine roughly 35% of global gold supply.

• Promoter control: Promoter group (founder family) retains majority control of voting equity, ensuring strategic continuity.
• Listed entity: Traded on Indian exchanges as RAJESHEXPO.NS with institutional and retail shareholders alongside promoters.
• Board composition: Mix of family representatives and independent directors to oversee operations and compliance.

• Mission: To be a leading integrated player across the gold value chain - mining/metal procurement, refining, manufacturing and retail - delivering scale, quality and global reach.
• Strategic pillars: Vertical integration (refining to retail), global footprint (Valcambi acquisition), cost optimization through scale, and brand expansion in jewelry retail.

• Procurement: Sources gold and other precious metals from global markets, bullion dealers and mining/refinery channels.
• Refining: Processes raw gold at owned/controlled refineries (including Valcambi) to produce LBMA-standard gold bars, dore and refined gold.
• Manufacturing: Converts refined gold into jewelry, coins and other products via in-house and outsourced manufacturing facilities.
• Distribution & retail: Sells through a mix of company-owned retail outlets, wholesale supply to jewelers and exports to global customers.
• Trading & treasury: Engages in bullion trading and uses financial instruments (hedging, bullion financing) to manage working capital and price risk.

• Refining & bullion sales - sale of refined gold and bullion products to banks, bullion houses and institutional buyers (high-volume, lower-margin but massive scale).
• Jewelry manufacturing & retail - manufacturing margins on gold jewelry and retail markup through branded stores and wholesale channels.
• Export sales - international shipments of refined gold, jewelry and semi-finished products to global markets (generates foreign-currency revenue).
• Value-added services - assay, refining services for third parties, tolling/refining contracts (fee-based income).
• Trading gains - short-term trading and treasury operations, exploiting price differentials and arbitrage opportunities.

• Scale in refining - ownership of Valcambi and large Bangalore facilities provides cost and throughput advantages.
• Vertical integration - control across the value chain reduces margin leakage and improves working capital efficiency.
• Global access - exports and refinery credentials enable serving institutional and sovereign clients worldwide.

• Commodity price volatility - gold price swings materially impact margins and working capital needs.
• Regulatory & compliance exposure - cross-border trade, anti-money-laundering, import/export regulations and LBMA standards.
• Concentration risks - dependence on bullion flows and a limited number of large refinery/wholesale clients can create exposure.

Rajesh Exports Limited (RAJESHEXPO.NS): History

• Listed on the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) under the ticker RAJESHEXPO.NS.
• Promoter holding: 54.55% (as of March 2025), indicating strong founding-family control.
• Subsidiary presence: REL Singapore Pte Ltd to support international procurement, sales and logistics.

• Shareholder composition (illustrative split of the 45.45% non-promoter stake): institutional investors, mutual funds and retail investors together form the public float, reflecting broad market appeal.
• Institutional / retail mix typically includes domestic mutual funds, foreign institutional investors and individual shareholders across India and overseas.

• Manufacturing and retailing of gold and diamond jewellery - large-scale contract and in-house production for branded and private-label clients.
• Integrated bullion operations - gold sourcing, refining and bullion trading that capture upstream margins.
• Wholesale exports - supplying bulk jewellery and bullion to global jewellery manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, leveraging REL Singapore and other channels for cross-border trade.
• Value-added services - hallmarking, custom design, finishing and channel distribution to domestic retail network and international partners.

Rajesh Exports Limited (RAJESHEXPO.NS): Ownership Structure

• Integrity: Ethical conduct and transparency across the supply chain to build stakeholder trust.
• Innovation: Significant investment in R&D and process automation to maintain competitive edge (advanced refining, hallmarking, CAD/CAM design and automated manufacturing).
• Customer centricity: Product and service design focused on evolving customer preferences across retail and institutional channels.
• Sustainability: Initiatives to minimize environmental impact (energy-efficient refineries, responsible sourcing, recycling) and promote social responsibility.
• Excellence: Commitment to superior quality, global compliance and continuous improvement to lead the industry.

• Refining & Bullion Trading: Converts mined and recycled gold into LBMA/ISO-standard bullion; margin earned on refining fees and bullion trading spreads.
• Manufacturing & Export: Produces jewelry and fabricated gold for domestic and international markets-bulk of revenue from large-volume exports to trading houses and brands.
• Retail & Branded Jewelry: Growing retail network and brand-led sales (design, hallmarking, customer financing) that add higher-margin consumer revenue.
• Backward integration & vertical scale: In-house refining, casting, and logistics reduce procurement costs and improve margins.

• Promoters (Rajesh Mehta & family and promoter entities): ~60-67%
• Public & Retail shareholders: ~18-25%
• Domestic Institutions & Mutual Funds: ~6-10%
• Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs): ~5-9%

• Strong promoter majority enables long-term investments in capacity, R&D and global expansion.
• Institutional and retail participation provides liquidity while public minority holdings ensure market discipline and disclosure.

Rajesh Exports Limited (RAJESHEXPO.NS): Mission and Values

• Integrated value chain: refining → manufacturing → wholesale exports → retailing under SHUBH Jewellers.
• Refining: operates the world's largest gold refinery with capacity in excess of 2,400 tonnes of precious metals per annum, processing roughly 35% of the world's gold supply.
• Manufacturing: in-house facilities produce plain and studded jewelry, medallions, coins and other bullion-backed products for both B2B and B2C channels.
• Retail: SHUBH Jewellers network of over 80 showrooms across Karnataka provides direct retail sales, design-to-delivery services and branded collections.
• Exports & customers: supplies bullion banks, central banks, wholesale jewelry trade and retail jewelry trade across multiple geographies.

• Promoter group holds the controlling stake (founder-led ownership model) with dispersed public shareholders on NSE.
• Corporate verticals are organized to capture margins at multiple points: refining margins, manufacturing conversion, export trading and retail markup.

• Refining margins: buys scrap/scrap metal and dore, extracts pure gold and other precious metals, monetizing the refining differential and recoveries.
• Manufacturing conversion: charges bead-to-final jewelry conversion margins (design, labor, gemstones setting) and benefits from scale efficiencies.
• Wholesale exports trading: arbitrage and bulk sales to bullion banks, overseas traders and central banks-leveraging global trading relationships and logistics capabilities.
• Retail margins & brand premium: SHUBH Jewellers captures retail premiums, after-sales services and proprietary collections in Karnataka.
• Value-added services: minting coins/medallions, hallmarking and customized B2B solutions for institutional buyers.

• Scale in refining reduces cost per ounce and improves recovery yields.
• Vertical integration captures margins at refining, manufacturing and retail stages.
• Strong relationships with bullion banks and institutional buyers enable large B2B contracts and steady cash flows.
• Geographic retail concentration supports brand depth and operational control in core markets.

Rajesh Exports Limited (RAJESHEXPO.NS): How It Works

• Refining: High-purity gold refining for bullion banks, central banks, institutional buyers and large bullion traders-processing sourced dore, scrap and refined bars into LBMA-grade products.
• Manufacturing: Production of hallmarked gold jewelry, medallions, coins and investment-grade bars for both wholesale and retail channels.
• Wholesale & Exports: Bulk supply of refined gold, coins and jewelry to international markets, bullion banks and the global wholesale jewellery trade.
• Retail: Branded retail distribution through SHUBH Jewellers and other retail outlets-serving the Indian consumer market with finished jewellery and coins.
• Acquisitions & Global Footprint: Strategic purchases (notably Valcambi) to expand refining capacity, international distribution and value-added services.

• Refining and sale of gold and precious metals to institutional and wholesale clients worldwide-primary revenue driver.
• Manufacturing and sale of finished jewellery, medallions and coins to wholesale and retail buyers.
• Retail sales through SHUBH Jewellers (over 80 showrooms across Karnataka), contributing materially to domestic revenue.
• Exports to bullion banks, central banks and international jewellery wholesalers-earning export revenues and foreign-currency sales margins.
• Supply of gold products to the retail jewellery trade via distribution partners and bulk sales to jewellers.
• Incremental revenue and margin expansion following strategic acquisitions that increase refining throughput and international market access (e.g., Valcambi).

• SHUBH Jewellers network: over 80 showrooms in Karnataka (important retail footprint contributing meaningfully to domestic sales).
• Valcambi acquisition: Rajesh Exports acquired Swiss refiner Valcambi-reported transaction consideration approximately US$400 million-bringing significant international refining capabilities and an LBMA-recognized platform.
• International customers: supplies bullion banks, central banks and the wholesale jewellery trade across Europe, Middle East and Asia (enabling export revenue streams and currency diversification).
• Revenue composition: majority sourced from refining and exports (bulk gold sales) supplemented by manufacturing and retail margins from jewellery and coins; retail network provides recurring consumer demand and brand visibility.

• Refining throughput and utilization - higher tonnage lowers per-unit fixed costs and increases refining premium capture.
• Vertical integration - owning refining plus manufacturing and retail reduces intermediaries and allows margin capture at multiple stages.
• Scale in sourcing - ability to buy dore/scrap at scale and negotiate working capital financing against inventory and gold holdings.
• International diversification - Valcambi and export relationships help smooth regional demand swings and capture global arbitrage.
• Retail penetration - SHUBH showrooms convert retail demand into higher-margin finished-goods sales and provide customer insights for product mix.

Rajesh Exports Limited (RAJESHEXPO.NS): How It Makes Money

• Core revenue engines: large-scale refining & bullion trading, contract manufacturing of jewelry, branded retail under SHUBH Jewellers, and integrated supply-chain services.
• Scale & margin drivers: refinery throughput, backward integration into gold sourcing, and downstream branding/retail premium capture.
• Strategic enablers: Valcambi acquisition, expansion of SHUBH retail footprint in India, and investments in sustainable/traceable sourcing and refining technologies.

• Market position & outlook:
  • Leader in global refining with ~35% share of worldwide refined gold (2025).
  • Diversified product mix cushions commodity cyclicality-refining and trading provide scale, retail captures margin upside.
  • Future growth backed by integrated model, Valcambi-enabled capacity, and planned expansion of SHUBH retail in India.
• Sustainability & innovation: investments in traceability, responsible sourcing and cleaner refining tech are positioned to protect market access and command premium pricing.