For its entry into retail markets the company has engaged Ernst &Young to assist it in the business planning process and finalise plans for setting up branded retail stores according to Rajesh Mehta, chairman, Rajesh Exports. He said the company would also be entering the diamonds business along with its foray into branded jewellery and would also be branding its products in the export market with its designer jewellery.

According to the company, "The Ernst & Young study would assess the reasonableness of the assumptions underlying the proposed business and financial model and strategy. The study would complement the in-house research we have conducted and concluded during which we obtained critical information on the preferences and spending patterns on gold jewellery by consumers to assist us in positioning our brand appropriately an d also in identifying product preferences," he added.

In the past few months Rajesh Exports has bagged substantial jewellery export orders from the Middle East, UK leading to increased interest from FIIs and retail investors on the bourses.

Earlier this month the company received an export order for Rs 126 crore from Lazorde Jewellery, Kuwait, for the export of 22-carat designer jewellery to be executed over four months at its manufacturing facility at Bangalore.

In March the company secured export orders worth Rs132 crore from Excel Goldsmiths of the UAE. The company had also received a Rs146 crore order from Gold Star Jewellers of Singapore.

According to Mehta, "The initiatives taken by the company have been yielding encouraging results and our clients have been sourcing high value designer jewellery from us. We have the lowest wastage per gram of processed gold vis-à-vis industry standards," said Mehta

Pursuant to the news of the export orders, FIIs bought a total of 5.65 lakh equity shares of Rajesh Exports, representing 8.07 per cent of the total paid up capital of the company. Goldman Sachs Investments (Mauritius) bought three lakh equity shares (4.285 per cent), Merrill Lynch Capital Markets (Espana) S.A. SVB nearly 1.4 lakh equity shares (2 per cent), and Lloyd George Investment Management (Bermuda) Ltd. 1.25 lakh equity shares (1.78 per cent) through open market transactions.

This led to the scrip of the company spurting to an all-time high of Rs705 last month. At present the stock is trading at Rs598 on the BSE with the recent downturn in the stockmarkets.