National Securities Depository (NSDL), India’s oldest and largest depository, has delivered its first quarterly results since going public on August 13. However, the market’s reaction was far from celebratory. The share price of NSDL slipped over 6% intra-day on Wednesday, just a week after its much-talked-about Dalal Street debut.
NSDL: From stock market debut to earnings
NSDL made a strong market entry on August 6, listing at Rs 880. This was around 10% above its issue price. The IPO, worth over Rs 4,000 crore and entirely an offer for sale, was lapped up by institutional investors and saw a healthy listing pop.
Since then, the stock had gained over 33% in just a few trading sessions, even rallying 26% in the past five days. But its first quarterly earnings release since listing brought some cooling in sentiment.
NSDL: Profit rises, but revenue dips
For Q1 FY26, NSDL reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 90 crore, marking a 15% year-on-year jump from Rs 78 crore in the same period last year. Sequentially, profits rose nearly 8% compared to the March quarter.
However, the revenue picture was not as bright. Operating revenue fell 23% YoY to Rs 312 crore, while sequentially it was down 14%. Operating expenses climbed 15% YoY, but the company’s EBITDA still rose 27% to Rs 115 crore.
NSDL: About the company’s business
Beyond the financials, NSDL’s operational scale continues to impress. The depository’s demat account market share on a run-rate basis reached 15.5% in Q1 FY26, sharply higher than the 9.4% a year ago. By June 30, 2025, it had crossed the 4 crore demat account mark.
Its dominance in the unlisted market also grew, with 10,392 companies admitted during the quarter. In equities, NSDL’s overall market share climbed to 73.2% from 70.8% a year earlier.
NSDL Vs CDSL: Revenue outlook
CDSL has declared its earnings a few weeks ago. Its Q1 revenue grew 15.3% QoQ to Rs 2,590 crore in Q1. The QoQ growth was largely driven by stronger annual issuer charges (+50.0% YoY), transaction charges (+26.5% QoQ) and other operating revenue (+16.5% QoQ).
While NSDL leads in assets under custody, number of companies serviced, and settlement volumes, its younger rival CDSL continues to hold the edge in retail investor dominance and new demat account additions.
The shares of CDSL is trading currently at 1,564.90, up 1.5%.