A market brief each morning, plus company filings and news from across Sri Lanka's stock market. Filter by company, sector and theme, and use sentiment badges to quickly identify Positive or Negative news.
DFCC Bank's cricket team finished as Second Runners-Up at the Mercantile 'B' Division Premier League Cricket Tournament; Pawan Pathiraja of DFCC Bank was named Best Batsman of the tournament.
Colombo Stock Exchange edged lower as the ASPI slipped 0.07% (down 15.72 pts) to 21,246.41 while the S&P SL20 was flat at 5,976.82. Top movers included Namunukula (+12.37%), Co-operative Insurance (+3.03%) and HNB (+0.20%); Printcare fell 5% after a board-recommended rights issue and Asia Asset Finance listed converted shares.
SDB bank marked its 29th anniversary, celebrating nearly three decades of empowering customers, SMEs and communities and launching initiatives including a beekeeping entrepreneur development project and a scheduled blood donation programme. The bank also honoured long‑serving employees and held branch-level celebrations.
AlchemX Global launched 'Insights from the First Wave, Sri Lanka's emerging SLFRS S1 & S2 Reporting Landscape' in Colombo, presenting an analysis of the first cycle of SLFRS S1 and S2 sustainability disclosures and guidance to improve decision-useful reporting.
Ceylon Hotels Corporation PLC's Belihuloya Rest House has reopened as EKHO Belihuloya, becoming the sixth hotel in the EKHO Hotels & Resorts portfolio. The property was refurbished to preserve its heritage character while upgrading guestrooms to attract longer stays and modern travellers.
CFA Society Sri Lanka held the 13th Capital Market Awards on 10 September 2026, with Hemas Holdings Ltd. winning Gold for Best Investor Relations (Mid-to-Large Cap). hSenid Business Solutions won Small-Cap IR Gold; Sunshine Holdings (Silver) and John Keells Holdings (Bronze) were also recognised, and Softlogic received a sector-report award.
Sampath Bank PLC was named Sri Lanka's Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2026. Its 'Wewata Jeewayak' programme invested LKR 63.7 million in 11 tank restoration projects in 2025, benefiting 14,780 people and rejuvenating 3,370 acres of paddy land.
The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka will hold the NEC 2026 on 24 September 2026 at Cinnamon Grand Colombo to present four policy papers, on engineering education, energy transition and power-sector reform, transport development and building fire safety, and seek stakeholder action.
A nationwide study found nearly one in four Sri Lankan adults has diabetes and almost one in three has prediabetes, with onset increasingly common in people in their thirties. The article links this trend to diet and lifestyle (including high-fat traditional meals and processed foods) and recommends early diet/lifestyle change and diabetes-specific nutritional strategies to reverse prediabetes.
George Keyt Foundation announced a new Advisory Committee (including Dr Sujatha Meegama, Dr Shamil Wanigaratne and Abbas Esufally) and appointed Leesha Captain as a Trustee to strengthen its curatorial, outreach and international partnership efforts.
Sri Lanka's GDP grew 4.2% year-on-year in Q2 2026 (Rs.3,029.6bn), down from 5.0% a year earlier and 5.1% in Q1. The statistics office said fuel rationing and higher fuel costs after Middle East tensions and subdued tourism weighed on activity; agriculture fell 2.3% while industry rose 7.3%.
Sri Lanka's rupee closed weaker at 330.70/331.00 to the US dollar, down from 329.15/329.35 the previous day, while government bond yields rose across maturities (e.g. 15.09.2027 at 9.90/10.20% and 15.12.2029 at about 10.92/11.00%).
Brown & Company and LOLC Holdings partnered with the government (51% state, 49% private) to revive the long-idle Hingurana/Gal Oya sugar factory, rebuilding infrastructure and expanding into ethanol, power and bio-fertiliser. The operation now cultivates ~8,500 ha, employs ~1,300 directly and works with 8,000 farmers, supporting roughly 30,000 people and reducing sugar imports.
Colombo Stock Exchange closed lower, with the ASPI down 0.24% (51.79 pts) at 21,262.13 on Rs2.23 billion turnover. SMB Finance, Watawala, Sampath Bank and Lion Brewery were top positive contributors while Dialog, Melstacorp and Commercial Bank led declines; a mandatory offer for Industrial Asphalts fell through after the SEC refused a share transfer due to the company being on the CSE watchlist.
Sri Lanka's GDP grew 4.2% year-on-year in Q2 2026 to Rs. 3,029,816 million (2015 prices), with current-price GDP up 11.3% to Rs. 8,254,176 million. Growth was led by Industry (+7.3%) and Services (+2.7%), including construction (+13.9%) and IT consultancy (+10%), while agriculture fell 2.3% and tourism remained subdued.
Cabinet approved an additional Rs2,500 million to the Paddy Marketing Board to finance ongoing procurement for the 2026 Yala season. Purchases have surged to 67,156 metric tons costing about Rs8,221 million (vs a 39,500t target) and the government says it can meet farmer payments.
Prolonged compensation proceedings over the MV X-Press Pearl dispute risk eroding confidence in Colombo as a transshipment hub, threatening Sri Lanka's ~$2bn shipping and logistics sector and jeopardising targets such as the 2026 15m TEU goal after handling 8.29m TEUs in 2025.
Industrial Asphalts' planned buyout collapsed after the SEC refused to approve a share transfer because the company was placed on the CSE Watch List for failing to file its annual report; the joint offer had acceptances of 1,880,693,010 shares (50.16%). IAC shares fell 14.29% to Rs 0.60.
Sampath Bank PLC has taken over Anilana Hotels’ Pasikuda and Nilaveli properties under the Recovery of Loans by Banks Act; Anilana has ongoing court challenges and says a prospective investor has offered Rs. 1.2 billion to settle with the bank.
Sri Lanka will launch the National Business Facilitation Center on September 22 to resolve bureaucratic hurdles and assist investors, operating under a National Steering Committee chaired by the Secretary to the President. It will first address day‑to‑day regulatory and legal issues and later provide single‑window end‑to‑end guidance with online application tracking.
WindForce PLC postponed a proposed LKR4 billion senior unsecured debenture issuance and Fitch has withdrawn the 'A(lka)' rating on those notes after the company decided not to issue due to rising market interest rates. The notes had been rated one notch below WindForce's A+(lka)/Stable.
Former ambassador Mahinda Samarasinghe urged a speedy conclusion of the bilateral tariff agreement with the US to protect exports and investment, noting the US accounts for 25% of Sri Lanka's exports, 90% of the agreement is complete and tariffs were cut from a planned 44% to 33% and 10% progressively.
Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka said the government will review domestic fuel prices at the end of the month after international crude surged; private distributors report losses of around Rs. 140-160 per litre and options include concessions or a price-band mechanism to protect consumers.
FitsAir has temporarily suspended its daily Dubai flights from 6 September and expects to resume by November 2026 subject to regional developments. The carrier linked the suspension to the evolving situation in the Middle East and weaker demand among Middle Eastern carriers (IATA Jul 2026: demand -9.5% YoY).
IFH KÖLN and Messe Frankfurt's Global Consumer Goods Industry Index (second survey) shows the global business climate remains subdued at 100.4 (vs 100.1 in the first wave) while pressures have shifted to geopolitical uncertainty, rising production/procurement costs and tariffs. Manufacturing respondents citing global uncertainty rose to 84% (from 52%).
Sampath Bank PLC has taken over Anilana Hotels' resorts in Nilaveli, Trincomalee and Passikudah under the Recovery of Loans by Banks (Special Provisions) Act; Anilana is contesting the move in court and says a prospective investor has offered Rs. 1.2 billion.
Sri Lanka launched 'Gem Sri Lanka 2027' in Bangkok to attract Thai buyers after exports to Thailand more than doubled to over $90m in 2025, with precious and semi-precious stones accounting for almost 70% of those shipments.
Hayleys Solar (part of Hayleys Fentons/Hayleys Group) commissioned a 3MW Veyangoda ground-mounted solar project (4,143.36 kWp DC) expected to generate about 6,351,770.88 kWh annually. The plant is the first of Hayleys Solar's planned 300MW ground-mounted solar portfolio across Sri Lanka.