Jewellery retailer Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri Ltd (TBZ) expects demand for gold jewellery to remain flat this fiscal across the industry. The company has attributed this to increasing gold prices and the overall slowdown in the economy.

According to Shrikant Zaveri, Chairman and Managing Director of TBZ, there were lesser number of auspicious days for Hindu weddings in the first half of this fiscal when compared to the previous year. An anticipated fewer number of weddings, therefore, further impacted sales, he said.

“We are looking forward to a marginal growth compared with the last fiscal. In 2011-12, our turnover stood at nearly Rs 1,400 crore,” Shrikant Zaveri told reporters here on Tuesday.

The company launched two showrooms in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Shrikant Zaveri pointed out that the company was looking forward to reducing its dependence on gold jewellery sales. “Currently, 20 per cent of our revenue comes from non-gold jewellery. We aim to increase it by 30 per cent this fiscal,” he said.

According to him , the jewellery retailer would invest nearly Rs 1,200 crore for expansion and open 43 more showrooms across the country over the next three years.

Declining to make any growth forecast, Shrikant Zaveri said, “We have recorded compound annual growth rate of 35 per cent over the last five years. We expect to maintain this or do better.”

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