HNB once again ranked among Sri Lanka’s Most Valuable Brands for 2026

Sri Lanka's leading private sector bank, HNB PLC, once again secured its place among the nation’s most valuable brands as per the latest Brand Finance Sri Lanka 100 Report, with a brand value of LKR 25.4 billion.

HNB’s placement sits within a Top 10 dominated by banking, with six banks among the country's ten most valuable brands. The sector accounts for 42 percent of the total value in this year's ranking, worth LKR 275 billion and up 14 percent year on year, a measure of how closely brand value tracks financial performance.

"A brand serves as a symbol of the value that markets and customers place on the institution behind it. The value of our brand is also a reflection of the trust and confidence that the market and our customers has placed in our organization, our services, and our people. To be ranked among Sri Lanka’s most valuable brands is a powerful validation of our customer-centric approach to banking, and the role that we must continue to serve in nurturing economic recovery, and facilitating more Sri Lankans to access the financial services they need to meet their aspirations,” HNB Managing Director /CEO, Damith Pallewatte said.

Brand Finance assesses brands against internationally recognised standards, combining brand value with an assessment of brand strength across marketing investment, stakeholder equity and business performance. The Sri Lanka 100 report is now in its 22nd edition.

HNB’s ranking follows a period of strong results for HNB. Group profit after tax reached Rs. 49.8 billion in 2025, more than doubling over two years, while group assets grew 19.4 percent to Rs. 2.64 trillion and loans crossed Rs. 1.5 trillion, up 30.5 percent.

The bank's branch and relationship network, the largest retail and SME footprint among private banks, further amplifies HNB’s reach into every segment of the Sri Lankan economy, from the grassroots to the island’s most well-established conglomerates.

Underlying HNB’s performance is a customer base built over decades outside the traditional banking perimeter. Gami Pubuduwa, launched in the 1980s to lend to village entrepreneurs who had no access to formal credit, remains in operation and continues to shape how the bank approaches the SME segment.

That approach extends to initiatives such as HNB Sarusara, which combines agri-modernisation support with market access, digital banking and capacity building to help transform rural farmers into empowered commercial agri-businesses entrepreneurs.

The Bank's transaction banking franchise was a further point of distinction, supported by a network of more than 900 global correspondent banks, a corporate digital banking platform serving over 6,000 corporate customers, and transaction banking volumes exceeding LKR 1.2 trillion in 2024. HNB has continued to invest in digital onboarding, trade digitisation and cash management capability, while maintaining disciplined credit risk management and asset quality across its corporate portfolio.

HNB’s growing cross-border lending relationships in India, East Africa and the Middle East have also supported Sri Lankan corporates expanding beyond the domestic market.

HNB is rated AA - (lka) by Fitch Ratings Lanka Ltd. and was recognised as Sri Lanka’s Best Corporate Citizen for 2025 by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. Reinforcing its reputation for excellence, HNB was honoured with The Bracken Award for the Best Bank in Sri Lanka by the Banker Magazine, UK. The Bank was also recognised by The Asian Banker as ‘Sri Lanka’s Strongest Bank’ and awarded ‘Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka’ for the 16th time, while receiving the title of ‘Best Bank for Large Corporates’ at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2025. HNB is further ranked among the ‘Top 1000 Banks in the World,’ as affirmed by The Banker Magazine, UK.