Argan, Inc. Announces Record First Quarter Profits.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Argan, Inc. (Amex:AGX) today announced financial results for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2009 ended April 30, 2008.

Net sales for the three months ended April 30, 2008 were $48.4 million compared to $50.4 million for the three months ended April 30, 2007. Argan's wholly-owned subsidiary, Gemma Power Systems, contributed $44 million, or 91% of total revenues for the quarter ended April 30, 2008 compared to $43.3 million or 86% of total revenues for the quarter ended April 30, 2007. Combined revenues for the quarter ended April 30, 2008 at Argan's other wholly-owned subsidiaries decreased to $4.4 million or 9% of total revenues from $7.1 million or 14% of total revenues in the quarter ended April 30, 2007.

Commenting on the revenues for the quarter, Rainer Bosselmann, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated, "Revenues at Gemma were negatively affected in the first quarter by a contract to construct an ethanol facility that was suspended during the first quarter. While it slowed our short term sales growth, we anticipate strong second quarter revenue from Gemma. Furthermore, subsequent to the close of the first quarter, two major corporate developments occurred which should have a positive impact on our business during the remainder of 2008 and beyond. We announced an engineering, procurement and construction agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric Company in the amount of $340 million for the design and construction of a natural gas-fired power plant in Colusa, California. The Colusa facility will be a 640 megawatt combined cycle facility and construction is expected to be completed during the summer of 2010. Gemma realized some revenues from this project in the first quarter under the interim notice to proceed that it received in December, and expects revenue from this project to substantially increase in the second and third quarters."

Mr. Bosselmann continued, "Subsequent to the quarter end, we also announced our new partnership with Invenergy Wind Management LLC for the design and construction of wind farms located from the Mid-Western region of the United States into Canada. This partnership significantly enhances our positioning in the alternative energy space and provides a significant new potential earnings stream."

The Company believes that its Non-GAAP Measurement of Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) provides investors with a valuable supplemental measure of our operating performance. EBITDA for the quarter ended April 30, 2008 was $3.7 million, or 7.7% of sales, compared to an EBITDA loss of $348,000 million for the fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2007.

Mr. Bosselmann continued, "We are moderately pleased with our margin performance for the quarter. Higher gross margins due to strong project performances and lower SG&A as a percentage of sales helped drive improved EBITDA to over 7% of sales, with Gemma reporting an 11% EBITDA margin on a stand alone basis."

Mr. Bosselmann concluded, "We are enthusiastic about the breadth and size of business opportunities that lie ahead of us. We have replenished our backlog with the large Colusa contract which is now ramping up, and the Invenergy partnership is an extremely exciting long term opportunity for us."

About Argan, Inc.

Argan is a publicly traded holding company focusing on companies that provide products and services to growth industries. Argan's primary business is designing and building energy plants for the rapidly growing alternative energy sector through its Gemma Power Systems subsidiary. Argan has two other subsidiaries: Southern Maryland Cable, which provides inside premise wiring services to the federal government including military installations and government office sites requiring high-level security clearance and also provides underground and aerial construction services and splicing to major telecommunications and utilities customers; and Vitarich Laboratories, a vertically integrated private label manufacturer that manufactures, packages and distributes premium nutraceutical products, including nutritional and whole food dietary supplements and other personal healthcare products.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. The words or phrases "would be," "will allow," "intends to," "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements." Argan's financial and operational results reflected above should not be construed by any means as representative of the current or future value of its common stock. All information set forth in this news release, except historical and factual information, represents forward-looking statements. This includes all statements about the Company's plans, beliefs, estimates and expectations. These statements are based on current estimates and projections, which involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include issues related to: rapidly changing technology and evolving standards in the industries in which the Company and its subsidiaries operate; the ability to obtain sufficient funding to continue operations, maintain adequate cash flow, profitably exploit new business, license and sign new agreements; the unpredictable nature of consumer preferences; and other factors set forth in the Company's most recently filed annual report and registration statement. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's analysis only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof. Readers should carefully review the risks and uncertainties described in other documents that the Company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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