Gold Rush Seen Lifting Profit at Biggest Jewelry Maker

A surge in demand for gold ornaments and coins after the biggest slump in prices in three decades is poised to boost profit at Rajesh Exports Ltd., India’s largest manufacturer and exporter of jewelry.

Net income in the three months ending June may advance 20 percent after rising 3.3 percent in the same period a year earlier, Rajesh Mehta, chairman of the Bangalore-based company said in a phone interview yesterday. Sales at the 75 retail outlets owned by the company probably surged as much as 40 percent yesterday during Akshaya Tritiya, the biggest gold-buying occasion, from a year ago, he said.