News & market updates

The EU urged Sri Lanka to develop a pipeline of bankable infrastructure projects and promoted its Global Gateway financing model—target expanded to €400bn by 2027—to fund ports, logistics, digitalisation and green infrastructure using blended finance and guarantees, stressing project preparation and regulatory predictability.

President’s Special Envoy for Foreign Investment Hanif Yusoof met US Under Secretary Jacob Helberg in Washington to promote US investment in Sri Lanka, highlighting opportunities in ports, logistics, energy and data centres.

Masayoshi Son became Asia's richest person as SoftBank shares jumped, lifting SoftBank's market capitalization to $298 billion and Son's net worth to about $97 billion amid AI-driven rallies and major AI investment plans.

Gamer.LK hosted the seventh Women’s Cyber Games 2026 in Colombo with a Rs. 100,000 prize pool; Soul of Devils were crowned Best Clan after winning multiple titles across mobile, PC, console and VR events.

The Digital Marketing Association of Sri Lanka (DMASL) renewed its partnership with the London International Awards (LIA) to give Sri Lankan agencies, brands and creatives access to international awards, mentorship (Creative LIAisons) and a 35% entry discount for 2026.

Sampath Bank's wholly owned subsidiary Siyapatha Finance PLC opened a new branch in Boralesgamuwa, expanding its islandwide network to 63 branches. The branch will offer lending, deposits, gold financing and digital Smart Pay services and Siyapatha holds a Fitch National Long-Term Rating of A(lka) (Stable).

DFCC Bank PLC launched DFCC ONE Online and upgraded the DFCC ONE App with features including traffic fine payments, digital onboarding for sole proprietors, enhanced P2P QR transfers (up to LKR 5,000) and LankaQR merchant payments to strengthen its digital banking offering.

Central Bank of Sri Lanka will run a digital payments promotional programme in Trincomalee on 5–6 June 2026 to raise awareness and provide personalised assistance from banks, finance companies, e-money providers and LankaPay, with merchant stalls and LANKAQR onboarding.

Yasas Hewage assumed duties as Chairman of the Industrial Development Board, bringing nearly two decades of banking, SME and entrepreneurship experience. He has held roles at HSBC and NDB and will support SME initiatives and the proposed Entrepreneurship and Industry Transformation Authority.

The IRCSL hosted the OECD–ADBI roundtable in Colombo and unveiled a new vision and roadmap aiming to double Sri Lanka's insurance penetration to 3% of GDP by 2030/2035. The two-day forum brings policymakers and industry together to discuss regulatory reform, climate risk and data-driven insurance solutions.

Exterminators PLC reported a FY2025–26 turnaround to a net profit of Rs.20.67m (from a Rs.11.83m loss), a 275% increase in net profit and a 354% rise in EPS. The company said AI and digitalisation drove a 20% expansion in gross profit through operational efficiencies.

Export Development Board will expand testing and certification facilities islandwide to boost export competitiveness, planning to modernise provincial labs, utilise underused facilities, pursue public–private partnerships and digital certification; next step is mapping exporter needs and provider capacities.

Exterminators PLC (EXT.N0000) reported a 275% increase in net profit for FY2025–26, swinging from a Rs.11.83m loss in FY2024–25 to a Rs.20.67m profit and total comprehensive income of Rs.32.35m. The company attributed the turnaround to AI integration, digitalisation and operational efficiency gains that also lifted gross profit by 20%.

The LMD-PEPPERCUBE Business Confidence Index rose seven points to 148 in May. Consecutive fuel price hikes, a roughly 5% fall in the Sri Lankan rupee year-to-date, higher electricity tariffs and a US$267m drop in official reserves have kept business sentiment fragile amid geopolitical tensions and rising cybercrime concerns.

Sampath Bank PLC received Central Bank Governing Board approval to open a branch in Port City Colombo’s Business Centre (Building 1), enabling it to offer LKR and designated foreign-currency banking services to residents and non-residents under the CPCEC.

The IMF completed its combined Fifth and Sixth reviews under Sri Lanka's EFF and released US$695m, bringing total IMF disbursements to US$2.4bn. The IMF cut 2026 growth to 3.0% and warned that higher fuel costs, a sharp drop in tourism and cyclone damage have flipped the current account to a projected 0.5% of GDP deficit.

LOLC Finance (LOFC) reported PAT of Rs. 27.4bn for the year to 31 Mar 2026, with underlying profitability up close to 30% and gross loans rising to Rs. 423bn (total assets Rs. 559bn). The company also saw improved asset quality (net NPL ~3.24%), higher deposits and strong capital ratios.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka is holding a digital payments promotion in Trincomalee on June 5-6 to raise awareness and provide personalised help for government officials, businesses and the public to register and use services (including banks, finance firms, e-money providers and LANKAQR).

AI and Data Analytics Summit 2026 was held on 22 May at Waters Edge, Colombo, endorsed by the Ministry of Digital Economy and emphasizing government commitment to advancing AI adoption and data-driven governance nationwide.

Sampath Bank will open a branch in Colombo Port City offering services in rupees and 16 designated foreign currencies and a tailored digital/tax/treasury platform for CPC companies. It is the second commercial bank in CPC after Commercial Bank opened a branch last month.

Yasas Hewage assumed duties as Chairman of the Industrial Development Board on 1 June 2026. He brings nearly 20 years of experience in banking, finance and entrepreneurship and said Sri Lanka's industrial transformation should draw on past strengths while embracing technology, innovation and sustainability.

99x launched Xianix (xianix.ai), an open-source AI platform for AI-native software delivery, at a breakfast seminar in Oslo. The platform is designed to enable an AI-Driven Development Life Cycle (AI-DLC) by coordinating AI agents across delivery pipelines while keeping human decision-making central.

Sysco won Newsweek’s 2026 AI Impact Award for AI Brand & Retail – Best Outcomes for its SAGE enterprise AI platform. SAGE is a model-agnostic AI layer being scaled across sales, supply chain, customer e-commerce and back-office functions.

Sysco won Newsweek’s 2026 AI Impact Award (AI Brand and Retail – Best Outcomes) for its Sysco Agentic Ecosystem (SAGE), an enterprise AI platform being scaled to improve supply chain, sales, e-commerce and back-office operations.

IBCSL will lead a national business delegation to the 4th China‑South Asia Standardisation Cooperation Conference in Chengdu from 8–10 July. The forum aims to harmonise product, service and technical standards with China to reduce non‑tariff barriers and certification costs for Sri Lankan exporters in tea, apparel, gems & jewellery, rubber and IT services.

Sampath Bank PLC has received Central Bank approval to open a dedicated branch at Building 1, Business Centre, Port City Colombo, authorised to offer services in Sri Lankan rupees and designated foreign currencies to residents and non-residents.

Sri Lanka will implement PIC-NET to optimize public services digitalization, aiming to minimize cybercrime and grow the national digital economy from 3% to 12% by 2030. The article cites China’s AI metrology guidelines and Germany’s planned data-centre expansion as reference models.

Cleantech Ltd. is the main sponsor of EcoFix’26 and is launching Planet Pioneers, a university program to establish e-waste collection infrastructure at four government universities as part of its Harithaswara 1.0 environmental initiative.

People’s Leasing and Finance PLC marks its 30th anniversary on 31 May 2026, highlighting three decades of lending, expansion since being founded as a People’s Bank subsidiary, a focus on MSMEs and plans to expand digital capabilities and community initiatives.

PMF Finance PLC reported record FY 2025/26 results: Profit before tax Rs.626m (more than double prior year), profit after tax Rs.353m, total income > Rs.5.1bn, total assets Rs.23.4bn and lending portfolio ~Rs.20bn.