News & market updates

LG Electronics showcased new appliances and AI-enabled home solutions at LG InnoFest 2026 APAC in Busan (Apr 7–10), unveiling expanded WashTower laundry models, a WashCombo HeatPump dryer, Fit & Max refrigerators and QuadWash Pro dishwashers. It also outlined ThinQ ON regional rollout (starting Australia, Thailand) and expansion of LG Subscribe across key Asian markets.

Mastercard launched two payment solutions in Sri Lanka—Soundbox and Cloud Commerce—developed with Commercial Bank of Ceylon and Hatton National Bank to enable low-cost card and QR acceptance via a compact device and NFC-enabled smartphones. Soundbox gives instant audio confirmation and Cloud Commerce turns phones into secure payment terminals.

National Development Bank PLC's NDB Wealth hosted the Family Office Forum 2026 — Colombo Edition at Cinnamon Life, convening ultra-high-net-worth individuals and global practitioners to discuss deep tech, infrastructure, energy transition, governance and capital allocation.

IRCSL and the Insurance Association launched a national Insurance Industry Development Roadmap to double penetration by 2030 and triple it by 2035, proposing mandatory home insurance and government-backed schemes. The plan also includes a digital motor insurance card, e-KYC, bancassurance and capital/reinsurance initiatives.

Motor insurance firms will tighten credit practices, cutting the current 30–90 day credit period to 30 days from 1 May and phasing in a cash-before-cover model to improve discipline. The move is part of broader efforts to strengthen operations and push digitalisation.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc COO and Executive Director S. Prabagar retired effective 26 April 2026 after more than 30 years with the bank. He led core operations, oversaw significant expansion in Bangladesh and chaired the Central Bank's blockchain roadmap committee.

Mastercard launched Soundbox and Cloud Commerce in Sri Lanka, partnering with Commercial Bank of Ceylon and Hatton National Bank to offer low-cost POS hardware and phone-based NFC payment acceptance to small merchants.

Nimal Gunewardena was elected President of the Public Relations Association of Sri Lanka at its AGM on 21 April. He and a new board aim to raise PR's recognition as a strategic discipline, emphasizing digital transformation, energy transition, SME support and tackling AI/fake news challenges.

Seylan Bank won multiple Gold awards at the LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2026, including Best Institution for Customer Convenience and Financial Inclusivity, Best Acquiring Bank (Fintech), Best Digital Payment App (JustPay Web), LankaSign Enabler (KOKO) and Digital Government Payments Enabler (HelaPay); it also received a Merit for Overall Award for Excellence in Digital Payments.

Apple announced Tim Cook will become Executive Chairman and John Ternus will become CEO effective 1 September 2026; Cook will remain CEO through the summer to work with Ternus on the transition.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon said COO and Executive Director S. Prabagar will retire effective 26 April 2026 after more than 30 years with the bank. He led key operations including expanding the Bangladesh network to 19 branches, which contributed about 15% to the bank’s overall profit.

VentureTECH has made a strategic investment in Sri Lankan‑founded cybersecurity firm DeltaSpike to fund AI/ML-driven platform enhancements, expand Managed Detection and Response and VAPT services, and scale its Security Operations Centres across Southeast and South Asia.

Janashakthi Insurance PLC appointed Hasitha Leanage and Hugh Terry as Independent Non-Executive Directors effective 20 April 2026. Leanage brings actuarial and corporate finance experience and Terry brings digital transformation and international insurance expertise; appointments notified to the regulator for approval.

The Central Bank's Annual Economic Review 2025 reports real GDP growth of 5% and continued macroeconomic stabilization, with a third consecutive current-account surplus and reserve build-up. Monetary policy remained accommodative supporting low interest rates, credit expansion and improved bank/non-bank profitability, while exchange-rate flexibility and easing capital controls were noted.

Asian markets rallied on April 20, 2026, as an AI-led upturn and improving hopes for peace in the Middle East lifted key indices, erasing conflict-related losses and pushing several benchmarks toward record highs. Investors remain lightly positioned with subdued trading volumes amid rapidly changing headlines.

Janashakthi Insurance PLC appointed Hasitha Leanage and Hugh Terry as Independent Non‑Executive Directors effective 20 April 2026. Leanage brings actuarial and corporate finance experience while Terry brings digital and international insurance expertise; appointments notified to the Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Heads of Multilateral Development Banks agreed to deepen cooperation to provide timely support to countries amid global uncertainty, prioritising mobilisation of private finance, scaling local-currency financing, and joint initiatives on critical minerals, water infrastructure and AI.

SpaceX will retain founder Elon Musk's control after its planned IPO via dual-class super-voting shares, targeting a roughly $1.75 trillion listing valuation with a $75 billion raise. The filing shows a $4.94 billion consolidated loss in 2025 on $18.67 billion revenue, $24.8 billion cash, and heavy AI-driven capex of $20.74 billion.

99x presented insights at the SLASSCOM Women in Tech Conference 4.0, highlighting inclusion and its five-year 99x Academy Scholarship Program as a pathway to accelerate women into tech roles. Speakers emphasised balancing high performance with wellbeing to build leadership readiness in the industry.

Exterminators PLC founder Marlon Ferreira urged an urgent shift from thermal fogging to Integrated Mosquito Management and promoted the company's AI-powered monitoring and sustainable mosquito-control solutions to better tackle rising dengue risk.

Motadata deployed its Unified Observability and ServiceOps platform at the British School of Colombo, providing real-time visibility, AI-driven anomaly detection, and centralized ITSM to reduce outages and speed incident resolution.

Apple named longtime hardware boss John Ternus as its next CEO, succeeding Tim Cook on Sept. 1, with Cook remaining as executive chairman. The change comes as Apple seeks a stronger AI strategy and to better integrate AI into iPhone products.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon (COMB.N0000) disbursed more than Rs.14 billion through 11,869 specialised MSME loans from 1 Jan 2025 to 31 Mar 2026 and fully utilised a Rs.1bn Re‑MSME allocation, receiving an additional Rs.1bn of which 50% has been disbursed.

AICPA & CIMA say the CGMA qualification is evolving to equip Sri Lankan finance professionals with digital/AI capabilities, strategic thinking and leadership to boost resilience and drive value amid ongoing economic uncertainty.

World Bank projects Sri Lanka's growth will moderate to 3.6% in 2026, citing higher energy prices and a transition to more sustainable growth. It flagged risks from persistently high energy costs, flight disruptions hitting tourism, skilled-labour shortages, weak public capex execution and climate shocks.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC signed a long-term Technology Services Master Agreement with Bancstac to deploy a secure, bank-controlled payment processing infrastructure. The deal upgrades its IPG (adding JCB and national card schemes, LankaQR), adds fraud mitigation, tokenisation, merchant onboarding and access to Amex/Discover/Diners while settlement remains via the bank's Euronet switch.

Aventude won the Information Management – Computer Software award at the Singapore Business Review Technology Excellence Awards 2026 for its engineering of Norway’s public-sector Compose low-code platform, now used by government agencies, utilities and housing organisations nationwide.

LIMRA Holdings was named among the Top 40 Outstanding Companies in Sri Lanka and won Gold in the People and HR Governance ESG cluster at the Best Management Practices Company Awards 2026.

Oceans, a Sri Lanka-based services employer, has over 500 professionals (majority in Sri Lanka) serving 300+ global clients and has launched Oceans Academy and WAVE upskilling to support borderless careers.