Investment accounts
Adult accounts
Child accounts
Choosing Fidelity
Choosing Fidelity
Why invest with us Current offers Fees and charges Open an account Transfer investments
Financial advice & support
Fidelity’s Services
Fidelity’s Services
Financial advice Retirement Wealth Management Investor Centre (London) Bereavement
Guides
Guidance and tools
Shares
Share dealing
Choose your shares
Tools and information
Tools and information
Share prices and markets Chart and compare shares Stock market news Shareholder perks Stock plan guidance
Pensions & retirement
Pensions, tax & tools
Saving for retirement
Approaching / In retirement
Approaching / In retirement
Speak to a specialist Creating a retirement plan Taking tax-free cash Pension drawdown Annuities Investing in retirement Investment Pathways
3i Group shares slide despite improved full-year return
(Sharecast News) - Shares in 3i Group were sliding on Thursday morning, after it reported a total return of £5.05bn for the year ended 31 March on Thursday, representing a 25% return on opening shareholders' funds, up from 23% a year earlier. Net asset value per share rose to 2,542p from 2,085p, despite a 27p foreign exchange loss.
The FTSE 100 company declared a total dividend of 73.0p for the year, including a proposed second payment of 42.5p.
It said the strong performance was driven by the private equity portfolio, which delivered a 26% gross investment return of £5.1bn.
Benelux-focussed discount retailer Action was again the dominant contributor, generating a return of £4.55bn, with 22% annual revenue growth and 29% EBITDA growth in 2024.
Like-for-like sales grew 6.8% in the early months of 2025, while 76 new stores were added to the network.
3i said it invested £1.18bn during the year, including £768m to increase its stake in Action and additional capital for Constellation, WaterWipes, Royal Sanders and ten23 health.
The group also realised £659m from exits, including Nexeye and WP, both at 2.0x or greater returns.
Infrastructure returns were more muted, contributing £52m, or 3%, amid softer share price performance from 3i Infrastructure plc.
The group said it ended the year with net debt of £771m and a gearing of 3%.
"2025 was another successful year for 3i, continuing our track record of consistently delivering strong shareholder returns, against what remains a challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical backdrop," said chief executive officer Simon Borrows.
"Our 2025 result was underpinned by the powerful compounding growth from our long-term hold assets Action and Royal Sanders, and by the performance of several other larger portfolio companies."
That, Borrows said, reinforced the company's "conviction" in allocating additional capital to its best performing assets.
"We remain confident in our ability to compound growth across the portfolio in the years to come."
At 0832 BST, shares in 3i Group were down 7.79% at 3,870p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
Share this article
Related Sharecast Articles
Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.
Award-winning online share dealing
Search, compare and select from thousands of shares.
Expert insights into investing your money
Our team of experts explore the world of share dealing.
Policies and important information
Accessibility | Conflicts of interest statement | Consumer Duty Target Market | Consumer Duty Value Assessment Statement | Cookie policy | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Reports | Doing Business with Fidelity | Investing in Fidelity funds | Legal information | Modern slavery | Mutual respect policy | Privacy statement | Remuneration policy | Staying secure | Statutory and Regulatory disclosures | Whistleblowing programme
Please remember that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance, the performance of investments is not guaranteed, and the value of your investments can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you invest. When investments have particular tax features, these will depend on your personal circumstances and tax rules may change in the future. This website does not contain any personal recommendations for a particular course of action, service or product. You should regularly review your investment objectives and choices and, if you are unsure whether an investment is suitable for you, you should contact an authorised financial adviser. Before opening an account, please read the ‘Doing Business with Fidelity’ document which incorporates our client terms. Prior to investing into a fund, please read the relevant key information document which contains important information about the fund.
This website is issued by Financial Administration Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (FCA Register number 122169) and registered in England and Wales under company number 1629709 whose registered address is Beech Gate, Millfield Lane, Lower Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 6RP.
