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(Sharecast News) - Shares in 3i Group jumped on Thursday morning after the private equity investor reported further growth at its largest portfolio company, Action, and announced a fresh £750m share buyback programme.
The FTSE 100 group reported a total return of £1.62bn, or 5% of opening shareholders' funds, for the six months to 30 September, though this was down from £3.29bn, or 13%, a year earlier. The result included a £474m foreign exchange translation loss, compared with a £771m gain previously.
Nevertheless, net asset value per share increased to 3,154p from 3,030p at the end of March, after payment of its final FY2026 dividend.
Discount retailer Action, the group's largest investment, continued to drive performance, generating a gross investment return of £1.34bn, equivalent to 6% of its opening valuation.
Action's net sales rose 14% year-on-year to 14.26bn in the first 10 reporting periods of 2026, while operating EBITDA increased 12% to 1.96bn. Like-for-like sales growth reached 3.7% in the year to week 45, with the retailer remaining on track to open at least 400 stores in 2026.
3i said it expected Action's full-year like-for-like sales growth to be around 4%, with an EBITDA margin of between 14.7% and 14.8%, assuming no significant disruption to trading.
The group also increased its ownership of Action from 65.4% to 67.5% during the period, acquiring an additional stake for consideration equivalent to £764m.
Meanwhile, 3i announced a new share buyback programme of up to £750m, to be completed by the end of May 2027, following the conclusion of its existing £750m programme.
Chief executive Simon Borrows said: "We generated another good return in our first half, with resilient performance from our portfolio against a challenging market backdrop."
The infrastructure division generated a gross investment return of £202m, up from £139m a year earlier.
3i declared a first FY2027 dividend of 42.25p per share, payable in January 2027.
The stock was up 5.5% at 2,707p by 1021 GMT.
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