News & market updates

The Sri Lankan–German Business Forum 2026 will be held in Colombo on May 27–29 to bring German public and private sector representatives together with Sri Lankan stakeholders to explore collaboration and investment, focusing on maritime, logistics and IT. Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and senior German officials will attend; sessions will cover port infrastructure financing, digitalisation and boosting exports to the EU.

Dialog Axiata regained the top spot on the Colombo Stock Exchange with a market cap of Rs. 367.1 billion (4.51% of total market cap), overtaking John Keells Holdings at Rs. 359.4 billion.

Colombo Stock Exchange closed higher, with the ASPI up 1.98% to 22,364.77, as rupee stabilisation and lower interest rates boosted investor confidence. Ceylon Cold Stores and Hemas posted strong quarterly profits and John Keells declared a final dividend; Dialog, Commercial Bank and Sampath gained while hSenid and Dipped Products fell.

Sri Lanka's total exports reached US$1,380.93m in April 2026 (up 6% y/y) and US$5,784.38m in Jan–Apr 2026 (up 4.3% y/y); merchandise exports rose 9.87% in April while services exports, led by ICT/BPM and financial services, also expanded.

Sri Lanka's services exports fell 6.13% in April 2026 to $317.16m. ICT/BPM exports rose 24.89% to $146.09m and financial services grew 119.41% to $10.45m, while construction and transport/logistics exports declined sharply.

hSenid Business Solutions (HBS.N0000) delivered an FY2026 turnaround with revenue of LKR 2.1bn (up 13% YoY), normalized EBITDA of LKR 200m (10% margin) and exit ARR of USD 5.5m (up 32% YoY). The company generated positive free cash flow, narrowed full-year PBT loss to LKR 8m, posted Q4 PBT of LKR 7m, launched Lexi Insights AI and won a national export award.

Colombo Stock Exchange ASPI rose 1.96% (430.21 pts) to 22,359.85 on Monday, with the S&P SL20 up 1.93%. Top contributors included Dialog Axiata, John Keells, Commercial Bank and Hemas; Ceylon Cold Stores reported Q1 profit up 75% to Rs 3.76bn and LVL Energy Fund's rights issue was oversubscribed.

ASPI surged 435.13 points (1.98%) to 22,364.77 with turnover of Rs.2.42 billion, driven by broad domestic buying; top contributors included Dialog Axiata, Commercial Bank, John Keells, Sampath Bank and Hemas Holdings, and market cap rose to Rs.8.11 trillion.

SLT-MOBITEL PEOTV has been appointed the exclusive media and broadcast partner for the Lanka Premier League, offering live HD coverage across PEOTV, PEO MOBILE and digital platforms; the tournament starts 17 July 2026 with the player auction on 1 June 2026.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce delegation led by Chairman Krishan Balendra held high-level economic engagements in Mumbai on 13–14 May, culminating in the renewal of an MoU with the Indian Merchants' Chamber. Discussions targeted technology, manufacturing, healthcare, renewable energy and digital transformation to boost bilateral trade and investment.

Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha commended the Indian CEO Forum at its 22 May 2026 AGM, which reaffirmed commitments to deepen India–Sri Lanka economic and commercial ties and urged upgrading the bilateral FTA to boost investment. The Forum represents 70+ members and said members contributed over $2 million during Cyclone Ditwah.

The Sri Lankan–German Business Forum 2026 will run 27–29 May in Colombo to promote FDI in maritime, ports and logistics and to showcase Sri Lankan IT startups. The conference, attended by the Prime Minister, will focus on port infrastructure financing, boosting exports to the EU and digitalisation.

Dialog Axiata PLC launched Dialog Air Fibre, Sri Lanka’s first 5G-powered ultra-fast Wi-Fi, now available for pre-order with a LKR 2,500 discount on the initial connection. The plug-and-play indoor device offers up to six hours battery backup, low latency and 104 TV channels via Dialog Play.

Sri Lanka will develop an AI-powered National Cybersecurity Framework to detect AI-driven digital fraud in real time and unify fragmented security systems, Deputy Digital Economy Minister Eranga Weeraratne said; the move involves collaboration with Google Cloud and NCINGA on the 'Scam Shield' initiative.

Sri Lanka has introduced mandatory Beneficial Ownership (BO) disclosure to strengthen corporate transparency. Deloitte says the reform's benefit depends on effective implementation and tech-enabled data integration, and warns heavy verification duties on directors and company secretaries may pose practical challenges.

Morocco’s Education Ministry and Huawei Morocco launched the third edition of DigiSchool to boost digital skills, training 300 new teachers (plus 60 alumni trainers) and engaging 12,500 students directly and 50,000 indirectly through 300 school clubs. The program focuses on programming, robotics, VR/AR and IoT with regional training, hackathons and a national Demo Day.

Sysco LABS hosted Tech Liga 2026, a futsal tournament with 14 teams representing 10 Sri Lankan technology companies; IFS A won the final on penalties (5-4) against LSEG B after a 1-1 draw.

US SaaS platform Review Craze has partnered with Sri Lankan tea and hospitality brand Tea Avenue to roll out its review-management and customer analytics platform across Tea Avenue outlets. Tea Avenue plans to expand to 40–45 outlets by end-2026 and will use the system for real-time feedback and sentiment analysis.

Fentons IT (FIT), with IceWarp, hosted an exclusive CIO networking evening 'The IceBreaker Moment' on 24 April at SHARK by Port City, attended by CIOs and IT decision-makers from over 40 organisations, mainly across the BFSI sector. The event aimed to foster open engagement and showcased IceWarp solutions through interactive activities and customer recognitions.

The Cabinet approved plans to draft Sri Lanka’s first inbound labour migration policy to regulate recruitment and oversight of foreign skilled and semi-skilled workers; a Steering Committee will be appointed to prepare the draft framework to address sectoral labour shortages and centralise monitoring.

Dialog Axiata proposes a Long-Term Incentive Plan to issue up to 184,006,700 shares (2% of issued capital) to eligible employees, subject to shareholder and CSE approval. Grants will use the 30-day VWAP as reference price and individual awards are capped at 1%.

Salesforce launched Headless 360, exposing its platform as APIs, MCP tools and CLI commands and adding 60+ new MCP tools and 30+ preconfigured coding skills. The release also includes an experience layer for multi-surface interactions (Slack, Voice, WhatsApp) and governance tools for agents.

Jabra has launched its Evolve3 headset series, PanaCast U30 video bar and PanaCast Room Kits in Sri Lanka via sole authorised distributor ZILLIONe. The portfolio is available with a 2-year warranty and after-sales support, with the PanaCast U30 shipping this month.

SLT‑MOBITEL launched Sri Lanka’s first TRCSL‑approved pocket-sized 5G mobile router delivering up to 3,600 Mbps and supporting up to 32 devices; it features Wi‑Fi 6 Plus, a 7000mAh battery (up to 10 hours) and an OLED touchscreen. The device includes security controls and an AI Life app for network management, targeting consumers, creators and remote workers.

Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister of Digital Economy met with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on 20 May 2026 in Singapore to arrange a Gates review of the country's draft national AI policy and to start technical dialogues to strengthen Digital Public Infrastructure and advance the IDAT 2 digital agriculture initiative.

Asian shares were mixed and global bonds recovered after U.S. President Donald Trump paused a planned attack on Iran, sending Brent crude down over 2% to $109.41/bbl and 10-year U.S. Treasury yields easing to about 4.60%. Nvidia earnings due Wednesday will test AI-driven market sentiment.

Colombo Stock Exchange closed slightly lower—ASPI down 0.07% at 22,298 and S&P SL20 down 0.21% at 6,148, with turnover Rs.2.32bn. Top contributors included Dialog, Vallibel One, Colombo Dockyard and Browns; Singer reported Q4 profit up 77% to Rs.2.48bn and Union Chemicals declared a Rs.44/share dividend.

The India–Sri Lanka Business Forum in Mumbai on 13 May 2026 highlighted renewed momentum in trade, investment and connectivity across tourism, renewable energy, ICT, logistics and infrastructure, with John Keells chair Krishan Balendra among delegates promoting deeper private‑sector ties.

SLIIT has redesigned curricula and assessments to prepare graduates for an AI-driven workplace—embedding industry exposure, AI tool use and project-based learning—and reports a 96% graduate employability rate. The institute also emphasizes human skills (communication, collaboration) and diverse team projects.

Nawaloka College of Higher Studies held the INCOHST 2026 grand finale on 16 May, a national school-level IoT/AI competition with 58 teams participating; Richmond College, Galle won the event.