SriLankan Airlines has clarified its financial performance, stressing that while the national carrier posted a Group loss of LKR 2,735 million in 2024/25, the figure is deeply tied to currency revaluation and not purely operational failure.
The airline’s statement comes in response to speculation following its latest financial disclosures. In contrast to the profit of LKR 7,925 million reported in 2023/24, the airline highlighted that the swing was mainly due to the drastic reduction in exchange gains. For 2024/25, the exchange gain amounted to LKR 3,925 million, a steep fall compared with LKR 26,717 million in the previous year.
These gains come from the revaluation of foreign currency–denominated interest-bearing liabilities. When the Sri Lankan rupee appreciates against other currencies, it generates a paper gain, but this also means results can fluctuate significantly year on year. Without these exchange gains, the Group recorded an operational loss of LKR 6,660 million in 2024/25. Yet this represents a notable improvement over the LKR 18,792 million operational loss recorded in 2023/24 before factoring in exchange rate effects.
SriLankan Airlines underscored that these results reflect real progress in operational performance, including cost reductions, improved fleet utilization, and better yield management, even amid global aviation challenges. The airline maintains that currency volatility remains a critical external factor that can distort the bottom line, but its core business trajectory is moving in the right direction.
This clarification is intended to reassure stakeholders, investors, and the public that SriLankan Airlines is on a path of gradual recovery, even if headline figures suggest otherwise.
