Fitch Ratings has withdrawn the Ceylon Electricity Board’s A(lka) National Long-Term Rating, saying the utility no longer exists following its dissolution in March 2026 and will no longer be covered by the agency.
The CEB has been replaced by six state-owned companies covering generation, transmission, distribution and system operations. Fitch said it “will no longer provide ratings or analytical coverage for CEB.”
The A(lka) rating had carried a Stable Outlook and was equalised with that of the Sri Lankan sovereign — currently at CCC+ on both Long-Term Local-Currency and Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Ratings — under the agency’s Government-Related Entities Rating Criteria.
Before its dissolution, the CEB was the sole electricity transmitter and distributor in Sri Lanka, accounting for more than 70% of domestic generation capacity through its network of hydro and thermal plants, Fitch noted.
The withdrawal marks the first formal credit-markets milestone of the restructuring. The breakup created the National System Operator (NSO), which now handles tariff submissions to the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka, and five other successor entities covering the rest of the industry value chain.
The shift has reshaped how credit risk is now assessed in Sri Lanka’s power sector. Ratings agencies are expected to issue fresh assessments of the successor companies as each entity establishes its own financial profile, balance sheet and regulatory relationships. How the new structure performs under the current high-energy-price environment will shape investor perception of Sri Lanka’s power sector in the months ahead.
