The company holds 62% of it, which is its main asset (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – Milan, 29 Jan – 3i Group rockets to the London Stock Exchange thanks to the improvement in commercial activity at the beginning of the year of Action, its main asset. The stock of the investment company, specialized in Private Equity and mid-range Infrastructure, recorded a rise of 10.7% in the early afternoon at 3,484.50 pence, among the highest in the Ftse 100 index and the Stoxx Europe 600. Action is a pan-European chain of discount retail stores based in the Netherlands, also present in Italy. Last October, 3i acquired a further 2.2% stake in Action from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, in exchange for newly issued 3i Group shares, bringing its stake in Action to just over 62%. 3i announced today that it has purchased another 2.9% of Action from GIC, raising its stake to 65.3%. In November, 3i’s share price fell 17% after Action reported lower-than-expected sales. In a business update, 3i today said Action’s same-store sales growth is forecast at 4.9% in 2025, up from 10% in 2024, reflecting consumer caution in France. The figure is lower than analysts’ forecasts, but what lifted sentiment was the indication that 2026 has started well, with sales growth of 6.1% in the first four weeks of January, higher than expectations, despite the difficulties in mobility caused by heavy snow in some parts of Europe during the second week of January. In France, in particular, comparable sales in October and November fell by a few percentage points, but returned to stability in December thanks to good seasonal sales, before increasing by 2.1% in the first four weeks of January. In 2025, Action reported revenues and EBITDA of €16 billion and €2.37 billion, respectively, an increase of 16% and 14% compared to 2024. Business remained strong in most of Action’s markets in 2025, particularly in the Netherlands, Poland and Austria. Only France was an exception, the company specifies. As of 31 December, when it stood at 62.3%, 3i’s stake in Action was valued at 22.38 billion euros out of a total value of the group’s portfolio of 30.31 billion pounds. 3i also revealed that the group’s NAV per share rose to £30.17 at 31 December 2025 from 28.57 at 30 September, with a total return of 20% for the nine months to 31 December 2025, following a positive exchange rate translation impact of £766 million, or 78 pence per share. ‘In the first nine months of fiscal 2026, 3i generated £1.8 billion in revenue and dividends from its portfolio, while investing £1.6 billion. We have also seen strong growth from several other leading consumer goods and private brands businesses, including Royal Sanders and Audley Travel,’ said CEO Simon Borrows, adding that the group has ‘made a strong start to the final quarter of the financial year ending 31 March 2026’ and is ‘poised for another year of strong growth’.
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(Radiocor) 29-01-261:56:26:06:0-5200
