Rajesh Exports, leading gold & diamond jewelry maker, has declared a substantial increase in standalone net profit for the three months period ended March 31, 2008.

The performance of the company got a fillip from robust sales during the quarter.

The company has posted a 46.81% increase in its net profit, which stood at Rs 489.39 million during the quarter, as compared to Rs 333.35 million in the same quarter previous year.

Net sales for the period under review zoomed 40.57% to Rs 25,253.29 million, whereas total income for the period climbed 40.72% to Rs 25,254.04 million, when compared with the prior year period.

It posted earnings of Rs 1.95 a share during the quarter, registering 78.38% decline over previous year period.

During the quarter, the company disclosed a fall in operating margin of 307.64 basis points to 3.33% on higher production cost. Interest cost decreased 78.27% to Rs 166.16 million while depreciation cost rose 28.92% to Rs 5.26 million over previous year period.

The company’s directors has announced a dividend of 35% on the equity shares, subject to the approval of the members, which in value terms constitutes an increase of about 19% compared to the last financial year.

At 1:48 p.m., the company’s shares gained 1.14% to trade at Rs 88.5 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The total volume of shares traded was 630,226.