3i Group H1 pre-tax profits rise, group finance director announces retirement

Private equity company 3i Group posted a rise in first-half pre-tax operating profits on Thursday, stating its "high quality portfolio" had driven the "strong result".

3i said interim pre-tax operating profits shot up to £2.20bn in the six months ended so September, up from £1.26bn at the same point a year earlier.

The group's net asset value increased to 1,153.0p from the 947.0p reported at the start of the trading year, even after having paid a 21.0p second dividend in July, while the group's total return of £2.19bn was also a marked improvement when compared to the £1.14bn posted a year ago.

3i said its private equity portfolio continued to "perform strongly", with a gross investment return of £2.37bn in the period, but also noted that its infrastructure business delivered a gross investment return of £60.0m, down from £134.0m at the same time twelve months prior.

It also declared its first 2022 dividend of 19.25p per share, in line with policy.

Chief executive Simon Borrows said: "We saw good growth from our two investment portfolios in the first half of the year and this momentum has continued into November. 3i is beginning to see a significant compounding effect from the performance of today's carefully selected Private Equity portfolio.

"Despite the social and economic uncertainty that we have seen over the last 18 months, competition for private assets remains very strong. While we will continue to deploy capital selectively in new and bolt-on investments, we are also in a good position to benefit from favourable market conditions through our realisation pipeline to deliver attractive returns for our shareholders."

Separately, 3i revealed that group finance director Julia Wilson will retire after the firm's annual general meeting in June 2022 after 13 years in the role. Wilson will be succeeded by James Hatchley, 3i's current strategy director.

As of 0905 GMT, 3i shares were up 3% at 1,407.50p.