3i Group plc (III.L) — Company Research

Last Updated: 28 October 2026

3i Group plc is a UK investment company that invests its own balance-sheet capital in private equity and infrastructure. Its largest holding by far is Action, the European non-food discount retailer, in which 3i held 65.4% at 31 March 2026, valued at £23,743m, or about 77% of net asset value. Since the last version of this report (11 June 2026) 3i has published its Q1 FY2027 update, with NAV per share rising to 3,131p at 30 June 2026, has issued 24.4 million new shares to buy about 2.1% more of Action from a co-investment vehicle, and has spent about £698m of its £750m buyback. Every figure below comes from 3i's results announcements, audited financial statements and RNS notifications. There are no analyst opinions, price targets or ratings anywhere in it.

Share prices, and figures worked out from them, are not shown for London-listed companies on ChartsView.

1. Company Snapshot

Field	Value
Ticker / exchange	III — London Stock Exchange
Sector	Financials — investment company (private equity and infrastructure, proprietary capital)
Revenue (FY2026 gross investment return)	£5,464m on the Investment basis for the year to 31 March 2026 (FY2025: £5,211m); £5,496m on the IFRS basis
Total return (FY2026)	£5,304m, or 22% on opening shareholders' funds (FY2025: £5,049m, 25%)
EPS (FY2026)	Basic 539.4p; diluted 538.6p (FY2025: 522.0p basic)
Net asset value	£30,887m, or 3,030p diluted NAV per share, at 31 March 2026; 3,131p at 30 June 2026 (3,083p after the 48.0p dividend)
Dividend per share (FY2026)	84.5p total (36.5p first dividend plus 48.0p second dividend, paid 24 July 2026)
Net debt and gearing	£547m and 2% at 31 March 2026; £481m and 2% at 30 June 2026
Employees	Average of 216 full-time-equivalent employees in FY2026 (FY2025: 226), 142 of them in the UK
CEO / Leadership	Simon Borrows, Chief Executive; James Hatchley, Group Finance Director; Jasi Halai, Chief Operating Officer; David Hutchison, Chair
Shares in issue	1,021,181,584 voting shares after buyback cancellations to 23 October 2026
Financial year end	31 March

2. The Bull and Bear Case

Bull Case

• Action still compounding: in the six months to 28 June 2026 Action's net sales rose 14% to €8,348m and operating EBITDA 13% to €1,108m, and it had 3,423 stores, on track for at least 400 net new stores this year.
• Long record of NAV growth: total returns were 44%, 36%, 23%, 25% and 22% in FY2022 to FY2026, taking diluted NAV per share from 1,321p to 3,030p, and it reached 3,131p at 30 June 2026.
• Large buyback nearly complete: by 23 October 2026 3i had bought 27,971,220 shares for cancellation at a cost of £697,950,450 under the £750m programme, which must finish by 31 December 2026.
• Low gearing and long-dated funding: gearing was 2% at 30 June 2026 with liquidity of £1,924m, including a £1,200m revolving credit facility that runs to July 2030 and has no financial covenants.

Bear Case

• Extreme concentration in one asset: Action was about 77% of NAV at 31 March 2026, so its growth, margins and the 18.5x EBITDA multiple used to value it drive most of 3i's result.
• Action like-for-like growth below guidance: Action's like-for-like sales growth was 3.6% for the first half of 2026, against the 4–5% it guided to in March, and 3i has pointed to weaker consumer demand in France and Germany.
• Currency drag: 82% of net assets are in euros or US dollars; foreign exchange cost £276m (27p per share) in Q1 FY2027, and a 1% move in the euro changes total return by about £242m.
• Lower operating cash profit: Investment-basis operating cash profit fell to £276m in FY2026 from £469m, mainly because of the timing of Action dividends.

3. Revenue Segments

3i reports three segments. As an investment company its "revenue" is gross investment return (GIR): realised and unrealised value growth plus dividends, interest and fees from the portfolio. The percentages below are each segment's share of FY2026 Investment-basis GIR of £5,464m.

Segment	% of revenue	What it is
Private Equity (£5,303m GIR)	97.1%	Stakes in mid-market companies, held for the long term. Portfolio value £29,707m at 31 March 2026. Dominated by Action (GIR £4,510m, a 25% return on opening value); Q1 FY2027 added a £118m investment in Nutergia.
Infrastructure (£106m GIR)	1.9%	Mainly a 29% stake in listed 3i Infrastructure plc (valued at £897m) and Smarte Group (£301m), plus fees for managing infrastructure funds; infrastructure assets under management were £6.9bn.
Scandlines (£55m GIR)	1.0%	The Denmark–Germany ferry operator, held as a stand-alone long-term asset and valued at £571m on a discounted cash flow basis.

3i holds 97% of its investments by value in unquoted companies. Follow European markets on the ChartsView Live Charts page.

4. Business Model and Moat

How it makes money. 3i invests its own permanent capital rather than raising fixed-life funds from outside investors. It earns value growth, dividends and interest on its holdings, plus fees for managing 3i Infrastructure and other funds. Cash from realisations and portfolio dividends is recycled into new investments, the dividend and, since May 2026, share buybacks. In FY2026 realised proceeds were £1,517m, total cash proceeds from the portfolio were £1.9bn (including £1.2bn of cash from Action) and cash investment was £907m.

The moat. Because it has no fund life, 3i can hold a winner for as long as it keeps compounding. It has kept adding to its Action stake, most recently paying partly in new 3i shares (£1,739m of FY2026 investment was paid in shares). The team is small, with an average of 216 employees in FY2026, and operating expenses were £135m against a portfolio of £31.8bn.

Capital discipline. Gearing has stayed low (2% at 31 March and 30 June 2026). The dividend policy sets the first dividend of each year at half of the previous year's total, and the £750m buyback adds a second way of returning cash.

5. Financial Health

Figures are from 3i's audited results for the years to 31 March. The revenue column is Investment-basis gross investment return (GIR); IFRS GIR was £4,079m, £4,666m, £3,877m, £5,062m and £5,496m for FY2022 to FY2026. Total return and NAV are the same on both bases. Long-term debt is gross debt (IFRS loans and borrowings) at each year end.

Fiscal Year	Revenue (£m)	YoY %	GAAP EPS	Adjusted EPS	Dividend/share	Long-term debt (YE)
FY2022	4,525	n/a (FY2021 not shown)	415.4p	415.4p†	46.5p	£975m
FY2023	5,104	+12.8%	475.0p	475.0p†	53.0p	£775m
FY2024	4,168	−18.3%	397.9p	397.9p†	61.0p	£1,202m
FY2025	5,211	+25.0%	522.0p	522.0p†	73.0p	£1,194m
FY2026	5,464	+4.9%	539.4p	539.4p†	84.5p	£1,211m

† 3i does not report an adjusted EPS, so the GAAP (IFRS basic) figure is repeated. Diluted EPS was 414.3p, 473.8p, 396.7p, 520.6p and 538.6p. NAV grew from £12,754m (1,321p diluted per share) at 31 March 2022 to £30,887m (3,030p) at 31 March 2026.

Quarter / Half	Revenue (£m)	Adjusted EPS	GAAP EPS
H2 FY2026 (Oct 2025–Mar 2026, derived)	2,058	about 199.2p†	about 199.2p
H1 FY2026 (Apr–Sep 2025)	3,406	340.2p†	340.2p
FY2026 total	5,464	539.4p†	539.4p

3i reports half-yearly, with first- and third-quarter performance updates. H2 is the full year minus H1, and its EPS is approximate because the share count changed. The Q1 FY2027 update (23 July 2026) gave a 3% total return for the quarter and NAV per share of 3,131p, but no GIR figure.

Cash flow and balance sheet. IFRS net cash flow from operating activities was £998m in FY2026 (FY2025: £763m); as an investment entity, 3i's operating cash flows include investment purchases and realisations, and it reports no material capital expenditure. Investment-basis operating cash profit was £276m. At 31 March 2026 gross debt was £1,211m, cash and deposits £664m, net debt £547m and liquidity £1,864m. At 30 June 2026 the portfolio was valued at £32,409m, gross cash was £724m, net debt £481m and liquidity £1,924m.

Outlook. 3i does not give earnings guidance. Action guided in March 2026 to like-for-like sales growth of 4–5%, at least 400 net new stores and an operating EBITDA margin of 14.8% for 2026; its first-half margin was 13.3%, with Q2 EBITDA up 18%.

6. Valuation Metrics

Raw metrics, October 2026. Not opinions on whether the stock is cheap or expensive.

Metric	Value
Diluted NAV per share	3,030p at 31 March 2026; 3,131p at 30 June 2026 (3,083p after the 48.0p dividend)
Net asset value	£30,887m at 31 March 2026
Total return on opening shareholders' funds	22% for FY2026; 3% for Q1 FY2027
Basic EPS	539.4p for FY2026; 340.2p for H1 FY2026
Free cash flow (accounting)	About £998m for FY2026: IFRS net cash flow from operating activities £998m less no material capital expenditure (FY2026 cash flow statement). Investment-basis operating cash profit was £276m.
Net debt and gearing	Gross debt £1,211m less cash and deposits £664m = £547m at 31 March 2026 (gearing 2%); £481m at 30 June 2026
Liquidity	£1,924m at 30 June 2026, including the undrawn £1,200m revolving credit facility
Action valuation basis	£24,249m at 30 June 2026, on run-rate EBITDA of €2,730m at an 18.5x multiple
Dividend per share	84.5p for FY2026 (FY2025: 73.0p)
Short interest (% of float)	1.11% of issued shares: FCA aggregated net short position for 3i Group, latest position date 19 October 2026
Days to cover	Not published for the London line

7. What Are They Building

Action's store roll-out. Action had 3,302 stores in 14 countries at the end of 2025 after 384 net new openings, entered Croatia, its 15th country, in March 2026, and had 3,423 stores by the end of June. It plans to open its first US store, in the South-East, by the end of 2027 or early 2028.

A larger Action stake. 3i's stake rose to 65.4% from 57.9% during FY2026. On 27 August and 7 September 2026 it issued 24,424,176 new shares, priced by reference to the 30 June NAV per share of 3,131p and subject to a nine-month lock-up, to buy about 2.1% more of Action from 3i 2020 Co-Investment 1 SCSp.

New private equity investments. In Q1 FY2027 3i invested £118m in Nutergia. FY2026 total investment was £2,646m, of which £907m was cash and £1,739m was paid in 3i shares.

Buyback. The up-to-£750m buyback started on 14 May 2026, with bought shares cancelled; about £52m remained at 23 October 2026.

8. Competitive Landscape

Few listed companies share 3i's model of permanent capital concentrated in one asset. The closest comparisons are listed European private-markets groups, most of which earn fees on third-party money rather than returns on their own balance sheet.

Peer	Key 2025 metric
EQT AB (Stockholm)	Total AUM €270bn and fee-generating AUM €141bn at 31 December 2025 (EQT year-end report 2025)
Partners Group (SIX Swiss Exchange)	AuM of $184.9bn at 31 December 2025, up 21% (Partners Group full-year 2025 AuM release)
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG)	Fee-earning AUM $86.5bn and fee-related earnings £349.5m, up 23%, for the year to 31 March 2026 (ICG final results)

On the FCA's aggregated short-position list at 19 October 2026, Partners Group was at 9.14% and ICG at 1.36%, against 1.11% for 3i.

9. Leadership and Insider Activity

Simon Borrows is Chief Executive (CEO), James Hatchley is Group Finance Director and Jasi Halai is Chief Operating Officer. David Hutchison is Chair. No CEO, finance director or Chair succession has been announced in 2026; Stephen Daintith left the board at the 25 June 2026 AGM and Hemant Patel became Audit Committee chair.

The director and PDMR dealings below were disclosed through RNS notifications between May and August 2026.

Name	Date	Type	Shares	Plan Type
Non-executive directors (Hutchison 3,181; McConville, McKellar, Patel, Schaapveld and Knox 624 each)	3 Aug 2026	Purchase	6,301 in total	Market purchase
James Hatchley	28 Jul 2026	Gift	65,000	Not applicable
Simon Borrows	1 Jul 2026	Release; 10,000 gifted to charity	211,095 released	Share plan release
Simon Borrows; James Hatchley	29 Jun 2026	Award	158,501; 86,771	Performance share awards
Simon Borrows	21 May 2026	Purchase	50,000	Open market
James Hatchley; Peter McKellar	14 May 2026	Purchase	10,000; 25,000	Open market

On 1 June 2026 deferred bonus shares vested to Borrows (69,128, none sold) and to Hatchley (17,334, of which 8,168 were sold), and on 12 August 2026 155,184 shares vested to Borrows, to be held until 30 June 2028.

10. Key Risks

• Action concentration (Concentration): about 77% of NAV is one private retailer, so a fall in Action's growth or profitability, or in the multiple used to value it, would cut 3i's NAV directly.
• European consumer demand (Macro): Action's like-for-like growth of 3.6% in the first half of 2026 was below its 4–5% guidance, and 3i has pointed to weaker demand in France and Germany and to the situation in the Middle East.
• Valuation judgement (Valuation): 97% of investments by value are unquoted and valued by 3i using earnings multiples or discounted cash flows, so reported NAV depends on management judgement.
• Currency (Financial): 82% of net assets are in euros or US dollars; a 1% move in the euro changes total return by about £242m.
• US expansion (Execution): Action's planned US entry, with a first store by the end of 2027 or early 2028, takes the format outside the European markets it knows.
• Key people and technology (Operational): 3i's principal risks include attracting and keeping key people in a team of about 216, cyber risk, and AI and software disruption to some portfolio companies.

11. Recent Developments

• 14 May 2026 — FY2026 results and buyback. 3i reported a 22% total return, diluted NAV per share of 3,030p and a total dividend of 84.5p, up 16%, and announced a buyback of up to £750m to finish by 31 December 2026.
• 21 May 2026 — CEO buys shares. Simon Borrows bought 50,000 shares in the market, after purchases by James Hatchley and Peter McKellar on 14 May.
• 25 Jun 2026 — AGM and Action trading. 3i said Action's like-for-like sales growth was 3.3% for the year to week 25, with 105 stores opened; Stephen Daintith left the board.
• 23 Jul 2026 — Q1 FY2027 update. NAV per share rose to 3,131p and the quarter's total return was 3%; Action's first-half net sales rose 14% and operating EBITDA 13%, with Q2 EBITDA up 18%.
• 24 Jul 2026 — Second dividend paid. The 48.0p second FY2026 dividend was paid, taking the total for the year to 84.5p.
• 27 Aug 2026 — Shares issued for more of Action. 3i issued 21,034,845 new shares to buy about 1.8% more of Action, followed by 3,389,331 more on 7 September for about 0.3%.
• 23 Oct 2026 — Buyback nearly complete. 3i had bought 27,971,220 shares for cancellation at a total cost of £697,950,450, leaving about £52m of the programme.

12. Key Dates to Watch

• 12 Nov 2026 — half-year results for the six months to 30 September 2026 (FY2027), per 3i's financial calendar; the first FY2027 dividend is normally declared with them
• 31 Dec 2026 — deadline for completing the £750m share buyback
• Expected Jan 2027 — payment of the first FY2027 dividend (last year's was paid on 9 January) and the Q3 FY2027 performance update (last year's was on 29 January); dates not yet published
• Expected May 2027 — FY2027 full-year results (FY2026 results were published on 14 May 2026)
• Expected Dec 2027 — Action's first US store, targeted for the end of 2027 or early 2028

Eurozone inflation, ECB decisions and retail sales data that affect Action's markets are on the ChartsView Economic Calendar. Discuss 3i Group with other investors in the ChartsView Forum.

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