News & market updates

Hayleys PLC made a mandatory offer to buy 1,140,654 ordinary shares (59.42%) of Harischandra Mills at Rs3,300 per share. Harischandra shares were trading at Rs9,200 and Hayleys had already acquired 778,946 shares (40.58%) at Rs3,300 in mid‑October.

Dividend · Rs 5.00 · XD Nov 3, 2025

First Interim dividend of LKR 5/share; XD 2025-11-03; record 2025-11-03; payable 2025-11-21; FY For the Year ending March 2026

The Committee on Public Finance raised Special Commodity Levies on imported big onions by Rs.10/kg to Rs.50 and on imported potatoes by Rs.20/kg to Rs.80, effective 26 Aug 2025. It also ordered tariff reform and tighter excise enforcement, suspending production by non-paying liquor manufacturers after 30 days and halting sales after 90 days.

Colombo ASPI rose 0.26% to 22,850.95 while the S&P SL20 fell 0.13% to 6,268.87; top contributors were Hayleys, Ceylon Grain Elevators, Cargills and Bairaha Farms, with market turnover at LKR 9 billion.

A Canadian Agricultural Mission will visit Sri Lanka from October 27–31, 2025 to deepen cooperation in agriculture, agri-food and agri-tech, focusing on policy, productivity, smart agriculture, climate resilience and expanding market access.

HANNS Global Canada appointed Rohan Ariyawansa as Director of Corporate Affairs and Country Head for Sri Lanka, succeeding Mark William. He brings over 40 years' management and quality-systems experience and will lead local partnerships, government relations and business growth.

The Colombo Stock Exchange closed marginally up as the ASPI gained 0.03% (7.45 pts) to 22,791.07 on turnover of Rs.6.61bn; DOCK, SAMP, CFIN, HARI and HUNT were among top contributors while foreigners were net sellers of Rs.235.1m.

Hayleys PLC will enter the large-scale supermarket sector, commencing operations with 100 outlets in Phase 1. The group says the move aims to diversify earnings and leverage its logistics, manufacturing and brand reach to serve urban and suburban consumers.

Asian Paints Causeway was title sponsor of the Gajaba Supercross 2025 in Saliyapura and brand ambassador Ashan Silva won the Group SLGT Cars (up to 3500 cc) category. The sponsorship underscores the brand’s promotion of its Auto Refinish product line and support for Sri Lanka’s automotive industry and motorsport development.

Coca-Cola Sri Lanka opened the Alawwa Material Collection and Processing Center (MCPC) on October 16, 2025, to collect and process PET waste under a Coca-Cola Foundation-funded project. The center is one of five TCCF-supported sites aimed at boosting recycling, creating livelihoods and supporting the 'Clean Sri Lanka' vision.

CBL Samaposha will sponsor the Samaposha Under-14 National Football Championship for the 14th consecutive year, with the tournament scheduled for Nov–Dec 2025 and featuring over 12,000 school players from all 25 districts.

JF Packaging hosted an investor forum on 21 Oct 2025 with strong domestic and international participation ahead of its IPO opening on 30 Oct 2025. Management presented financial performance, growth strategies and planned use of proceeds and held a Q&A session.

Chocoholics announced its first international expansion, planning to open outlets in Saudi Arabia through a partnership with Bayt Altawabel. The move follows endorsement from Prince Waleed bin Nasser Al Saud and is presented as aligning with Saudi Vision 2030 to grow café and hospitality experiences.

JF Packaging is launching a Rs.600 million IPO on 30 October 2025 to repay term and import loans, aiming to reduce debt, lift interest coverage from 1.9x to about 3x and cut finance costs by ~20%. The company plans to reinvest savings into capacity, sustainability, R&D and export expansion after listing.

The Sri Lanka–Greater Mekong Business Council held its 14th AGM and elected Nimal Ratnayake (Lanka Hospitals) as President for 2025–2026; committee seats went to firms including Aitken Spence Travels and Hayleys Advantis as the council promotes trade, tourism and sectoral collaboration (textiles, tea, IT, healthcare).

National inflation (NCPI) rose to 2.1% in September 2025 from 1.5% in August 2025. Food inflation increased to 3.8% (from 2.9%) and non-food inflation to 0.7% (from 0.4%); the NCPI index is 207.4, up 0.2 points versus August.

Maharaja Foods (MFPE) plans to raise Rs.112.5m via a 1-for-10 rights issue at Rs.9 per share to fund a SPAR–Maharaja SaveMore outlet (Rs.47.5m), repay Rs.50m of HNB loans, and launch a ready-made rice and curry product line; subject to approvals.

Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka ran the “Give Back Life” sustainability initiative at ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 matches in Colombo, installing PET collection bins and partnering with Neptune Recyclers to collect and recycle bottles and cans sold at the venue. The program mobilized waste collectors and volunteers to process collected PET through authorized recycling channels, supporting the Coca-Cola system's World Without Waste goals.

John Keells Group has partnered with Uber Eats to launch on-demand grocery delivery from Keells stores, starting with 30 stores across Colombo, Gampaha and Kandy and expanding to 80+ stores islandwide in the coming weeks.

Thailand's counselor highlighted the Sri Lanka–Thailand FTA as a milestone, citing opportunities in food, agriculture, tourism, healthcare and IT. The Sri Lanka–Greater Mekong Business Council held its 14th AGM and elected Nimal Ratnayake as President for 2025–2026.

Sri Lanka expects US$1.1bn in foreign direct investment in 2025, with realized investments up 138% year‑on‑year to September and the largest single realized investment of US$229m from Colombo West International Terminal. BOI approved 104 projects totalling US$1,060m Jan–Sept across sectors including solar, manufacturing, property, telecoms and dairy.

Colombo West International Terminal, a venture including John Keells Holdings PLC, contributed USD 229m to BOI-reported foreign capital inflows of USD 827m in Jan–Sep 2025. BOI said total inflows rose 13.8% y/y and the project pipeline could lift 2025 FDI above USD 1bn.

Softlogic GLOMARK (Softlogic Holdings PLC) hosted a beach outing for 82 students and 12 teachers from the Ceylon School for the Deaf & Blind at Dehiwela beach, with Hemas Manufacturing as Main Sponsor and partners providing financial and in-kind support.

Closeup launched Sri Lanka’s first-ever crowdsourced love story book 'Break The Barrier', compiling 100 selected stories from hundreds of submissions as part of a campaign that drew over 42 million views across Meta and TikTok.

Kelly Felder opened a new retail outlet in Wattala, expanding its domestic store footprint. The fashion house already operates stores in Colombo, Nugegoda and Colombo City Centre and sells internationally via its e-commerce platform.

Colombo market closed higher as ASPI rose 0.97% (217.65 pts) to 22,633.80 with turnover above Rs.11.2 billion and foreigners net sold Rs.1.4 billion. Banking led activity (29% of turnover); CTHR, HARI, CARG, JKH and DFCC were key positive contributors and HAYL bought 779,123 HARI shares.

Hayleys PLC bought a 40.58% stake in Harischandra Mills PLC, acquiring 778,946 shares at Rs.3,300 each for Rs.2.57 billion. Harischandra shares closed at Rs.7,424.50 (up ~Rs.2,500) and reported a group NAV per share of Rs.931.40 as of end-June 2025.