The National Savings Bank (NSB) Group has posted its highest-ever operating profit before tax of Rs. 59 billion for 2025, the state-owned lender said this week. Profit after tax rose 61% year-on-year to Rs. 28.2 billion, with total assets reaching Rs. 1,831 billion and total deposits Rs. 1,608 billion.
NSB Chairman Dr. Harsha Cabral PC and Acting General Manager and CEO Rohana Bandara Weerakoon presented the bank’s 2025 Annual Report to Treasury Secretary Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma on April 1. The bank described the milestone as a reaffirmation of its commitment to “transparency, accountability, and sound financial governance.”
The result strengthens NSB’s position as Sri Lanka’s largest deposit-taking institution by retail base. The bank benefited from wider net interest margins as policy rates declined through 2025, alongside lower credit costs as the post-2022 stressed asset book continued to recover.
The performance contrasts sharply with the unfolding crisis at NDB Bank, where the Central Bank has suspended dividends and branch expansion after an internal fraud was revised from Rs. 380 million to Rs. 13.2 billion. Trading in NDB shares has been halted on the Colombo Stock Exchange.
The divergence underscores a wider trend in Sri Lanka’s banking sector: state-owned banks, recapitalised after the 2022 sovereign default, are recovering profitability while several private banks remain under regulatory scrutiny. The CBSL is preparing mandatory consolidation if smaller banks fail to strengthen their balance sheets within the framework window.
