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Sri Lanka State Firms Post Higher First-Half Profits 🇱🇰🚀 📈 Fifty-one key state-owned enterprises recorded combined profits of Rs.259 billion in the first half of 2026, rising from Rs.228 billion a year earlier. 🌍 Gains came even as higher costs, supply disruptions and order cancellations linked to the Middle East conflict weighed on operations. 🏦 State banks drove much of the improvement, with Bank of Ceylon lifting profit before tax to Rs.62.6 billion and People’s Bank reaching a record Rs. 32.6 billion. ⛽ Ceylon Petroleum Corporation saw net profit climb 72% to Rs.29.2 billion, supported by Rs.41 billion in Treasury subsidies that offset sharply higher import costs. ✈️ SriLankan Airlines reported a much deeper loss before tax of Rs.35.6 billion in its first quarter, compared with Rs.12 billion previously, as fuel expenses nearly doubled. ⚡ Power sector reforms transferred Ceylon Electricity Board functions to successor companies, with tariff rises and a Rs.15 billion subsidy helping boost electricity sales revenue by 20%. 🚢 Sri Lanka Ports Authority raised profit 19% to Rs.29.1 billion, while Airport and Aviation Services more than doubled its profit before tax to Rs. 24.9 billion. 🔄 A dedicated restructuring unit is liquidating 33 selected state enterprises as part of ongoing reforms.

Sri Lanka leads South Asia on the 2026 Global Hunger Index with its strongest performance yet 🇱🇰 The island posts the region’s best score of 10.2, ranking 53rd worldwide and holding the moderate category 📉 It stays well ahead of Nepal at 14.5, Bangladesh at 19.2, India at 24.1 and Pakistan at 25.5 📈 Steady gains have brought the figure down from 22.1 in 2000 and 11.4 in 2018 to today’s low 🌾 Undernourishment has fallen to just 4.9% of the population alongside clearer progress on child nutrition 🌏 The result stands out against a South Asian average of 23.5 and a global score of 18.1 that has edged higher since 2018 📊 The Global Hunger Index tracks hunger through four measures: undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting and child mortality, with lower scores showing less severe hunger -Nikkei