News & market updates

Joseph Fraser Ninewells launched ParentX, Sri Lanka's first dedicated postpartum retreat, offering personalised breastfeeding support, newborn care education, physiotherapy, nutrition planning, emotional wellness counselling, Ayurveda-inspired therapies and partner guidance for post-birth recovery.

Indocopters will install Loft Dynamics' Airbus H125 VR full-motion simulator in India, creating South Asia's first dedicated H125 VR training site and expanding pilot training capacity for operators in Sri Lanka and the region. The simulator supports emergency, high-altitude and mission-specific training.

Sriyani Dress Point held its Annual Staff Awards 2026 at the Monarch Imperial, bringing together more than 1,000 employees to recognise long service and top performers. The retailer operates ten showrooms and plans to open a new Colombo outlet later this year, expecting to add about 300 staff.

Provider.lk launched an AI Website Builder — billed as Sri Lanka’s first native AI website creator — that builds professional, responsive sites via a chat interface in under 10 minutes and is available now with a limited-time six-month free trial when registering a new annual .lk or .com domain.

Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya said an efficient public sector and accountable management accounting are essential for Sri Lanka's sustainable development as the country recovers from its economic crisis, and warned legal action against institutions that fail to submit financial reports. She launched the CMA National Management Accounting Conference Journal and noted progress in manufacturing, tourism and financial sectors.

EY Global Delivery Services Sri Lanka hosted its largest-ever Milestones event in Colombo with about 3,500 EY professionals and the Prime Minister spotlighting the National Digital Economy Strategy to embed AI-first operations and grow ICT exports.

Sweden will send a trade delegation to Sri Lanka Expo 2027, Ambassador Jan Thesleff confirmed, with preparations underway to bring Swedish buyers and investors to the Colombo event (14–17 Jan 2027). Discussions identified export opportunities in cinnamon, coconut products, gems & jewellery, apparel and IT services for Nordic markets.

Cabinet approved ratification of ILO Convention 188 to introduce international labour, health and safety standards for Sri Lanka's fishing industry and allow implementing regulations; the sector employs over 315,000 workers.

NIBM launched the Best Innovative Business Model Awards (BIBMA) 2026 on 14 July to recognise organisations across Start-ups, MSMEs, Corporates and Public Enterprises, offering 30 awards; applications are open until 15 September and shortlisted entrants will be notified by 15 November.

Teen Academy will launch the Teen Master of Business entrepreneurship program for secondary students in Colombo on 8 August, running its inaugural cohort Aug 2026–Jan 2027 at the Postgraduate Institute of Management; the 12-module program is benchmarked to Wharton/Harvard youth programs.

Kaspersky warns fraudsters are exploiting parked domains to harvest sensitive user data (IP, geolocation, cookies, browser fingerprints), perform malicious redirects and typosquatting, and deliver phishing/malware. Users are advised to avoid suspicious links, verify URLs and use anti-tracking/security tools.

HDFC Bank (HDFC.N0000) said it diversified in 2024–25 into leasing (Super Draft Leasing), gold purchase loans, personal loans and green financing aligned with the Central Bank's Green Taxonomy. The bank also introduced green deposit products and named Hemal C. Lokugeegana as CEO to drive sustainable growth from 2026.

Women Empowered Global launched the 24-week virtual 'WEG Leadership Lab', commencing 26 September, to accelerate and transform women leaders' careers. The programme combines masterclasses, mentorship and practical leadership tools with international exposure for rising managers, senior professionals and entrepreneurs.

Abans Finance PLC (AFSL.N0000) opened four new branches—Ambalangoda, Moratuwa, Horana and Kiribathgoda—bringing its network to 22 after reporting FY ended 31 Mar 2026 profit after tax of Rs.857 million (up 101%). Total assets rose 54% to Rs.20.81 billion and customer deposits reached Rs.11.04 billion.

SLT-MOBITEL won the Winner award in the Sustainable Telecommunication Service Provider category at the Sri Lankan Sustainability Awards 2026. The recognition highlights the firm's ESG focus and investments in renewable energy, energy-efficient infrastructure and digital inclusion.

AIA Insurance Lanka has been named SLASSCOM's exclusive Insurance Partner under a signed MoU to support wellbeing initiatives for Sri Lanka's technology community, engaging members through events such as FIT HIT 2026 and Megamind Quiz.

Sri Lanka Expo 2027 is being promoted to Kenya's renewable energy sector, with KEREA invited to Expo briefing sessions in Nairobi on 25 September and Mombasa on 2 October to explore B2B partnerships and investment opportunities.

Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur and the Federation of Malaysian Sri Lankan Organisations agreed to boost tourism and investment ties, exploring improved air connectivity and projects such as hotels, theme parks and golf/leisure developments to promote travel and cultural links.

Emirates is rolling out the U-Dream multi-way adjustable headrest in Economy Class across its A350s and most A380s and 777s, with all A350s to be fitted by year-end and 270 ordered Boeing 777Xs to come pre-installed.

Sri Lanka Corporate Director Summit 2026 ('Future-Ready Sri Lankan Directors') kicks off today at Cinnamon Grand Colombo, fully sold out and featuring local and international business leaders, including Tokyo Cement Chairman Dr. Harsha Cabral.

ITAK MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam warned Parliament against the politicisation of COPE and urged equal, transparent investigations with referrals to CIABOC, the police or other authorities. He cited his prior exposure of massive non-performing loan portfolios at Bank of Ceylon, People's Bank and National Savings Bank.

Union Bank (UBC.N0000) launched a competitive pension loan of Rs 8 million at the lowest interest rates while hosting a Pensioners' Day offering health screenings and benefits, including Rs 30,000 in annual PickMe rides for government pensioners; Nawaloka Hospitals participated as a partner.

Mandara Rosen Yala – Kataragama is inviting travellers to experience the Kataragama Esala Festival and markets itself as the region's only SLTDA-classified four-star hotel with 60 rooms. The property offers easy access to festival grounds and regional attractions plus conference and leisure facilities.

HSBC Sri Lanka was named 'Best International Bank in Sri Lanka' and 'Best for Securities Services' at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2026. Euromoney highlighted HSBC's cross-border execution, corporate and institutional banking franchise and connections to 31 markets.

L B Finance PLC's LB CIM launched the LB CIM Virtual Debit Card with UnionPay, offering in-app NFC Tap-to-Pay, global e-commerce and cross-border QR payments. The platform processed Rs. 300 billion across more than 6 million transactions this year and has 800,000+ downloads.

ASPI fell 0.29% to 21,145.73 while the S&P SL20 rose 0.03% to 5,945.01; turnover exceeded Rs.3.2bn with foreign net inflow of Rs.79.8mn and a Rs.2.3bn crossing in Cargills driving volume. Negative contributors included CINS, COMB, RICH, CARS and HARI; Melstacorp, NTB and HNB were also active.

Uga Resorts opened a five-kilometre community electric fence at Uga Ulagalla on 15 July 2026 to protect 65 farming families and about 132 acres; the project cost ~LKR 4.5m, with Uga contributing ~LKR 3.175m.

Hayleys PLC's subsidiary Hayleys Aventura commissioned Sri Lanka's first outdoor automated rotary parking system. The installation offers space-efficient automated parking for urban developments with platform retrieval within a maximum of 2.5 minutes.

AI is reshaping Sri Lanka's hospitality and tourism sectors, said speakers at 'EME Level Up: AI Hospitality Connect Sri Lanka 2026', highlighting an AI Visibility Report that identified 1,207 Sri Lankan hotel brands. TrustYou benchmarking showed Colombo's RPS at 87.45% and a score-to-revenue value of $222,000.

Azad Mansoor was installed as the 98th President of the Rotary Club of Colombo on 3 July 2026 at Cinnamon Life, and outlined a 2026–27 program focused on sustainable community development, education, healthcare initiatives and environmental stewardship.