News & market updates

ASPI rose 0.80% (190.27 pts) to 23,900.11 and the S&P SL20 gained 1.38% to 6,710.33, led by strength in large-cap banking stocks. Market turnover was over Rs.5.6bn, foreign investors were net sellers of Rs.167.6m, with HNB, SAMP, COMB, DOCK and NDB among top positive contributors.

ASPI rose 0.24% to 23,709.84 with turnover above Rs.8.5bn and foreign investors net sold Rs.986.2m. Top positive contributors were HNB, RICH, CTEA, COMB and AEL; TKYO led materials-sector turnover (Rs.2.05bn) and JINS recorded a 7.8% price gain.

HNB MD/CEO Damith Pallewatte highlights HNB’s Sarusara agripreneur programme (15,000 participants to date, 30,000 target) and a 2026–2030 strategic plan. He warns of banking-sector challenges (liquidity, asset quality, digital risk) and urges ecosystem-building across exports, agriculture, tourism and digital services.

ASPI closed down 0.01% at 23,652.51 with turnover of LKR 4.8bn and net foreign outflow of LKR 42.7m. Banks led turnover (30%), food & beverage and capital goods together contributed 31%; top negatives were RICH, CFIN, JKH, RIL and AEL, while RAL saw net foreign buying and crossings were led by COCO, COMB and DOCK.

Commercial Bank, Sampath Bank and Seylan Bank acted as Strategic Gold Partners at the Association of Professional Bankers (APB) Convention 2026. The event united public, private and foreign banks to promote professionalism and regional collaboration across Sri Lanka's banking sector.

Home Lands launched four new resort apartment projects totaling 1,000 units in Greater Colombo. Five partner banks (Commercial Bank, HNB, Sampath, NDB and DFCC) are supporting the Home Lands Wealth Builder payment plan, offering flexible financing including up to 100% funding.

The Colombo market ended marginally higher — ASPI +0.02% to 23,655.68 — on turnover of Rs.3.35 billion with foreign net outflows of Rs.64 million. Top positive contributors included NHL, CFIN, CARG, JKH and LLUB, while Samson International, UB Finance and Sierra Cables led turnover.

The Association of Alternate Financial Institutions appointed its new 2026/27 board, with Siddeeque Akbar as President. AAFI's membership includes Commercial Bank, L B Finance, NDB, Seylan Bank and Hatton National Bank.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon launched Google Pay support for its Mastercard debit and credit cardholders, enabling NFC tap-and-go payments domestically and globally using tokenisation. The move is aimed at accelerating contactless payments and digital adoption among customers.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon (COMB.N0000) enabled Google Pay support for its Mastercard debit and credit cardholders, allowing NFC tap-and-go transactions with tokenisation for enhanced security. It is the first Sri Lankan bank to offer Google Pay for Mastercard and aims to boost touchless payment adoption.

Colombo stock market ended the week up as the ASPI rose 0.14% to 23,801.96 while year-to-date net foreign selling approached Rs. 11.8 billion. Turnover was nearly Rs. 9.1 billion, led by banks and large crossings (notably Commercial Bank) with gains in ACME, JKH, Sampath, HNB, KZOO, Colombo Dockyard and Teejay.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon (COMB.N0000) completed 100,000 Google Pay transactions within six weeks of launching the service for its Visa cardholders. The bank, the first in Sri Lanka to enable Google Pay in partnership with Visa and Google, said the milestone signals rapid adoption of contactless mobile payments.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon signed an MoU with GAIA Greenenergy to expand its Green Loans and Green Leases, offering preferential rates from 10.00% p.a. and up to seven-year repayment to finance solar installations (promotion until 2 Dec 2026). GAIA will provide supply, installation, warranties and one year free service.

Home Lands will launch 1,000 brand-new resort-style apartments across four projects at a property investment roadshow on 8 Feb, with five banks (Commercial Bank, HNB, Sampath, NDB and DFCC) offering up to 100% financing and flexible payment plans.

Colombo market recovered as the ASPI rose 0.22% (52.82 pts) to 23,734.50, driven by high-net-worth crossings that made up 49.4% of turnover (COMB contributed Rs.3.2bn); market turnover was Rs.8.24bn and foreign investors were net sellers of Rs.1.3bn.

IFC proposes up to $20m to support John Keells' South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT) capacity expansion to fund new ship-to-shore cranes. The funding will use IFC’s MCPP with a parallel lender; IFC also announced a separate $166m SME financing package via NTB, Commercial Bank and NDB.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC plans to issue Basel III‑compliant Tier II listed, rated, unsecured, subordinated, redeemable debentures to raise up to Rs. 20 billion in three tranches. The bank also proposes an ESOP of up to 46,195,156 options (capped at 3% of voting shares) for 2026–28, subject to approvals.

Daraz Sri Lanka is running a 'Fabulous Feb – 2 Good 2 Miss!' 2.2 campaign from Feb 1 (8:00 PM) to Feb 6 with deals up to 85% off, Rs.50 million in vouchers, free delivery, Golden Rush Hour discounts and bank partner payment offers. The campaign also promotes ongoing Everyday Low Price pricing for essentials.

Daily FT and ICCSL host a webinar today at 4:00pm on 'Post Ditwah Recovery – How to Support SMEs', featuring HNB CEO Damith Pallewatte and Commercial Bank Head of SME Banking Mohan Fernando among speakers; the event will be broadcast live via Facebook.

NDB Bank has launched Visa's Card Present Connect (CPC) in Sri Lanka, a Cybersource-powered in-person payment acceptance solution for SMBs using Android SmartPOS. The offering supports EMV, contactless and mobile wallets and aims to lower costs, speed onboarding and simplify deployment for acquiring banks.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon Chairman Sharhan Muhseen was a joint winner of the 'Outstanding Independent Non-Executive Director of the Year' award at the SLID–ACCA National Corporate Director Awards 2025; Janashakthi Finance Chairman Rajendra Theagarajah won the Silver award.

AIA Group CEO Lee Yuan Siong visited Sri Lanka, reaffirming AIA's commitment, meeting bancassurance partners National Development Bank (NDB), DFCC Bank and Commercial Bank, and AIA Sri Lanka pledged a LKR 50 million donation to the 'Rebuilding Sri Lanka' initiative.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon signed an MoU with Hayleys Fentons/Hayleys Mobility to promote New Energy Vehicles and offer leasing solutions via a joint campaign running until 30 November 2026. The bank will provide competitive rates, concessions and flexible repayment options while Hayleys supplies warranties, after-sales support and EV charging access.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon secured a $60m IFC Risk Sharing Facility (IFC to cover 50% of credit risk) to expand SME lending, prioritising women-led enterprises and agribusinesses nationwide.

Commercial Bank has obtained IFC risk cover for a US$60.0m portfolio of new SME loans, with IFC assuming 50% of the credit risk to expand WSME and agri lending. The facility, supported by the IDA Private Sector Window/SLGP, prioritises women-led enterprises and agri-businesses and enables more flexible credit assessment.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon hosted 'ForwardTogether 2026' with IFC to advance its sustainability agenda, develop a Climate Transition Plan and adopt PCAF methodology to assess financed emissions while engaging customers on green investment opportunities and risk reduction.

IFC announced a $166m financing package for Sri Lanka, providing a $50m loan to NTB, $80m in RSFs ($60m to Commercial Bank, $20m to NDB) and $36m in trade finance to NTB and NDB to expand SME, women-led and trade financing.

IFC is investing $166 million in Sri Lanka to expand SME and trade finance through three banks: a $50m loan to NTB, $80m in RSFs ($60m to Commercial Bank, $20m to NDB) and $36m in trade finance. $7.5m of the NTB loan is earmarked for women-owned SMEs and IFC will provide digital and climate-risk advisory to NDB.

Colombo bourse hit a new year high as the ASPI rose 142.74 pts (0.60%) to 23,956.51, about 43.49 pts shy of 24,000. Top contributors were LOLC, DOCK, COMB, BIL and MELS, with turnover ~Rs 10.5bn and net foreign selling of Rs 82.1m.

ASPI touched 24,000 intraday for the first time, closing at 23,956.51, up 142.74 points. Turnover rose to Rs.10.50 billion led by heavy trading in Colombo Dockyard (Rs.2.12bn) and LOLC Holdings (Rs.1.24bn), with gains led by LOLC, Colombo Dockyard, Commercial Bank, Browns Investments and Melstacorp.