Higher profits for non-financial companies in the second quarter of 2026

Non-financial companies in the Netherlands made more profit in the second quarter of 2026 than in the same period in 2025. Together, these companies earned 93.2 billion euros in profit before tax. That is 5.1 billion euros more than a year earlier.

This was because the companies generated higher operating profits. This was reported by Statistics Netherlands (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, CBS). Gross profit consists of three components: operating profit, profits from foreign subsidiaries, and other profits.

Operating profit amounted to 70.4 billion euros. That is 5.2 billion euros more than last year. However, profits from foreign subsidiaries were slightly lower, down by 0.2 billion euros.

Other profits were still negative, but slightly less so than last year. Companies pay tax on their profits. In the second quarter of 2026, they paid 2.1 billion euros less tax in total than they did last year.

After paying tax, the companies had more funds available. They invested 2.7 billion euros more than in 2025. They also paid 0.6 billion euros more in dividends to their shareholders.

The profit margin was also higher. In 2026, it was 37.5 percent. In 2025, it was 36.9 percent.

Profits therefore grew faster than the added value generated by these companies.