Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL) Q2 Results FY27 Preview: Date, Time, Expectations & Key Things To Watch

Cofacto Research Published October 26, 2026 4 min read

Central Depository Services (CDSL) is India's largest depository, holding demat accounts and custody assets that earn fee income from issuers, transactions and value-added services, with the quarter's backdrop set by a July-September IPO boom and a step-up in monthly account additions. The print will speak to how much of that IPO and corporate-action surge flows into revenue, and whether the reduced KYC fee card and a rising-yield quarter weigh on the CVL/KRA line and investment income.

Quick Details

Results date	October 31, 2026
Quarter	Q2 FY 2026-2027
Previous quarter revenue	Rs. 326.51 Cr (standalone total income, Q1 FY27)
Previous quarter PAT	Rs. 144.45 Cr (standalone, Q1 FY27)
Market cap	Rs. 24,996.4 Cr
CMP	Rs. 1,196.0

Central Depository Services (India) Limited Q2 Results Date and Time

CDSL's board is scheduled to meet on October 31, 2026 to consider the audited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (Q2 FY 2026-2027).

Key Things To Watch

Technology spend and cost path under the new CTO: Management has repeatedly declined to quantify forward technology spend.

Whether management quantifies spend under new CTO Kinjal Shah (appointed September 22, 2026), after the current run-rate was defended at approximately Rs. 240-250 Cr annually
Employee-cost trajectory after the ~30% QoQ jump in Q1 FY27, and whether tech leverage 'overtakes the employee cost' as management has stated
Any update on the 'stabilized' computer and technology-related expense trend noted in Q1 FY27

Market share and net account additions

Net additions of 58 lakh in Q1 FY27 vs 74 lakh in Q4 FY26; watch whether the incremental-share dip (93% in Q3 FY25 to 82% in Q2 FY26) extended or reversed
Standing open-ended guidance of 85%+ share in new openings with incremental share of 85% to 90%

CVL/KRA revenue at the reduced KYC fee card: Q2 FY27 is the first full quarter at the reduced rates effective April 1, 2026.

Fetch charges cut 20% (Rs. 35 to Rs. 28) and creation charges cut 75% (Rs. 20 to Rs. 5), with an 80% fetch / 20% creation revenue mix
Whether CVL/KRA revenue holds near Q1's Rs. 45 Cr (+22% YoY) after unlisted issuer revenue fell to Rs. 0.3 Cr from Rs. 3.5 Cr
Any change in the 'no impact seen' stance on the new KYC competitor and CKYC 2.0

Investment income and dividend bridge

MTM vs accrued split within other income against the rising-yield quarter (10-year G-sec from ~6.87% on August 25 to 7.068% on September 17), after Q1's Rs. 43.8 Cr MTM/accrued contribution
Subsidiary dividend normalization: Rs. 39.50 Cr in Q1 FY27 vs Rs. 62 Cr in Q1 FY26, the driver management cited for the standalone PAT decline

Strategic investments and leadership transition

Deployment updates on IIBHL (Rs. 19.20 Cr across two tranches), ONDC (Rs. 5 Cr, with the 1.67% vs 2.20% stake-figure discrepancy unreconciled) and Sahamati (Rs. 1 Cr for a 2% stake)
Ramp-up of new CTO Kinjal Shah (effective September 22, 2026) and CRO Farokh Patel (effective September 1, 2026), plus a successor for the CVL nominee director who resigned effective September 28, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did CDSL's incremental market share in new demat accounts dip?

Management attributed the quarterly dips to market and seasonal factors rather than migration or dual-depository usage, and pointed to absolute additions mattering more than percentages. It also stated no depository participant has fully migrated to the competition.

How much does CDSL spend on technology every year?

Management has defended current annual technology investment at approximately Rs. 240-250 crores, describing technology as the 'core DNA' of CDSL. It declined to give forward guidance on whether this spend will grow, while citing a 10x scale-up of demat accounts from 1.8 crore in September 2019 to 18 crore in 2026.

Why did CDSL's unlisted issuer revenue fall in Q1 FY27?

Unlisted issuer revenue fell to Rs. 0.3 Cr from Rs. 3.5 Cr in the prior quarter, which management attributed to a change in the universe of unlisted companies. Management does not track or disclose listed/unlisted annual custody-fee breakups.

Is CDSL's revenue growing?

In Q1 FY27, standalone total income rose 51.90% QoQ to Rs. 326.51 Cr and was up 4.53% YoY, while the press release framed consolidated total income as up 27% QoQ and 15% YoY. Growth was supported by record assets under custody of Rs. 88.2 lakh crore and 17.21% YoY demat account growth to 18.59 crore.