Sales of private listed non-financial companies rose 8 per cent on year in the second quarter of FY26, accelerating from 5.5 per cent growth in Q1, led by improvement in sales growth across all the major sectors, according to Reserve Bank of India.
The RBI released data on performance of private corporate business sector in Q2 of FY26, based on the results of 3,118 listed non-government, non-financial companies.
Of the total, sales of 1,775 listed private manufacturing companies went up 8.5 per cent, from 5.3 per cent in Q1, mainly driven by higher sales growth in automobiles, food products, electrical machinery and chemicals industries.
Operating profit growth of manufacturing and IT companies improved to 10.6 per cent and 7.7 per cent, respectively, while it moderated to 6.5 per cent for non-IT services companies during Q2 from the previous quarter.
Information Technology (IT) companies recorded a rise of 7.8 per cent in their sales during Q2 from 6 per cent in the previous quarter, said RBI.
Operating profit margin improved sequentially for IT companies during Q2, while it moderated for manufacturing and non-IT services sector.
Sales of non-IT services companies recorded a double-digit growth of 10.6 per cent in Q2 as compared to 7.5 per cent growth in the previous quarter, primarily due to higher sales growth recorded by the wholesale and retail trade companies, the study said.
While sales showed an improvement, there was also a rise in expenses, due to higher raw material prices and staff costs.
Manufacturing companies’ expenses on raw material rose by 9.0 per cent in the quarter under review with raw material to sales ratio increasing to 55.9 per cent during Q2 from 54.1 per cent in the previous quarter.
During the quarter staff costs of manufacturing, IT and non-IT services companies rose 9.2 per cent, 6 per cent and 8.9 per cent, respectively, higher than the growth recorded during the previous quarter.
Staff cost to sales ratio for manufacturing and non-IT services companies, broadly remained stable at 5.8 per cent and 10.7 per cent, respectively, during Q2, while for IT companies, the ratio moderated to 47.3 per cent in Q2 from 48.8 per cent in the previous quarter.
RBI said with the sequential decline in profit, manufacturing companies’ interest coverage ratio moderated to 8.6 in the quarter.
Within services sector, while ICR of non-IT services companies broadly remained stable, ICR of IT firms continued to remain at elevated levels.
Published on November 24, 2025