India Inc sees 181 firms double Q2 FY27 profits amid earnings rebound
In the September quarter, 181 Indian companies more than doubled year-on-year net profit, driven by stronger demand and improved margins across sectors such as metals, energy, banking and consumer goods.
India's September-quarter earnings season showed a sharp rebound, with 181 companies reporting at least a 100% increase in net profit compared with the same period a year earlier, according to data compiled by Ace Equity. The surge spanned banking, metals, pharmaceuticals, energy, consumer businesses and industrial manufacturing, indicating a broader improvement in the corporate earnings cycle.
Metals and energy firms were among the top profit doublers. JSW Steel posted a 192% rise in quarterly profit to Rs 5,067 crore, while Hindustan Zinc and Vedanta posted gains of 142% and 151% respectively. Indian Oil Corporation recorded a 192% profit jump to Rs 21,854 crore, and Adani Power and GAIL posted increases of 142% and 160%.
Financial services also contributed strongly. IDFC First Bank's profit more than tripled to Rs 1,049 crore, RBL Bank rose 159% to Rs 498 crore, and Bandhan Bank saw a 456% increase to Rs 622 crore. Jefferies noted that banks under its coverage received earnings estimate upgrades of 3% to 7% for FY27, supported by higher net interest income and lower credit costs.
Consumer and technology firms reported notable gains as well. Titan's net profit more than doubled to Rs 2,394 crore, though an accounting gain of Rs 671 crore linked to its Damas acquisition inflated the figure; excluding that gain, profit rose 54%. FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the parent of Nykaa, posted a 207% profit increase to Rs 101 crore, while One97 Communications, the parent of Paytm, posted a ten-fold rise to Rs 228 crore. Lenskart's profit grew 121% to Rs 231 crore.
Brokerages highlighted the earnings recovery. Motilal Oswal described the September-quarter season as the strongest in 12 quarters, noting a 22% year-on-year earnings rise among the 35 Nifty companies that had reported results at the time of its review. The firm had previously projected 22% profit growth across its 399-company coverage universe for the quarter. Jefferies raised its FY27 earnings growth forecast for the MSCI India index by one percentage point to about 15%.
Analysts cautioned that some of the extreme profit jumps reflected low base effects or one-off factors. For example, Sterlite Technologies' profit surged from Rs 4 crore to Rs 517 crore, a rise of more than 12,000%, and Welspun Living's profit increased over 1,000% year-on-year.
Overall, the data suggest a marked turnaround in corporate profitability across multiple sectors in India during the September quarter of FY27.