London, June 26, 2026, 14:05 BST
- 3i fell around 1% in London, giving back some of Thursday’s 11.5% gain. The FTSE 100 dropped about 1% at mid-session.
- Action’s like-for-like sales growth for the year is up to 3.3% as of June 21, compared with 2.4% at May 10. That points to a faster run-rate in the weeks between, looking at equal weeks.
- 3i’s shares trade about 17% under the March NAV of 3,030p. Investors are watching the buyback and Action’s summer trading.
3i Group plc (LON:III) slipped Friday, though shares kept most of their recent jump. The rally followed signs that top investment Action, a Dutch discounter, saw better sales momentum after a May warning drove the stock lower.
3i traded 1.16% lower at 2,504.5 pence at 09:04 EDT, or 14:04 in London, according to MarketScreener. The shares had finished Thursday at 2,534 pence, up 11.48% on the day, MarketWatch data said. The FTSE 100 slid 1.09% at 13:45 BST, based on delayed numbers from Investors Chronicle.
Action’s like-for-like sales growth is tracking higher, according to 3i. The group said Thursday that Action’s like-for-like sales were up 3.3% year to date as of week 25, June 21. In May, 3i reported like-for-like sales growth of 2.4% at week 19, May 10.
Action’s like-for-like sales growth worked out to roughly 6.2% for weeks 20 to 25 on a simple equal-week basis. This calculation isn’t company-reported and skips sales weighting across weeks. Still, it explains how a 3.3% year-to-date number could impact the share price.
The number also faces tougher scrutiny. In March, 3i put out Action’s 2026 targets: like-for-like sales up 4% to 5% and no fewer than 400 new stores. By June 21, the investor said Action had added 105 more stores.
Action drives most of the investor interest. 3i valued its stake in Action at 23.7 billion pounds as of March 31, making up 75% of the portfolio. The total value of the wider investment portfolio stood at 31.8 billion pounds on the same date.
3i is still trading below book value. Friday’s close at 2,504.5 pence was about 17% under the group’s March NAV of 3,030 pence per share. The discount has tightened since May, when QuotedData’s James Carthew put the shares at “about a 35% discount” to end-March NAV. 3I
Carthew flagged the concentration problem, saying Action is so big that “everything else is a rounding error.” He admitted that’s unfair to the 3i team. For now, that’s showing up in the share price: investors are mostly changing their view on Action, not the rest. QuotedData
3i moved to tackle the discount with a buyback. The firm said in May it would repurchase up to 750 million pounds worth of stock, cutting share capital, with plans to wrap up before Dec. 31. At Friday’s price, that gets around 30 million shares before costs, about 3% of the share count from 3i’s released NAV and NAV-per-share figures.
3i said Thursday that Action is on track for another strong profit quarter and reported 699 million euros in cash at June 21. The discount retailer paid a 450 million euro dividend to shareholders in May. Chief Executive Simon Borrows said in May that Action’s appeal comes from “quality at the lowest price”. 3I
3i shares rallied Thursday but stayed well under last year’s top. MarketWatch reported the stock finished the day 43.65% under its 52-week high of 44.97 pounds from Oct. 27. MarketScreener showed Friday’s price almost 14% higher for the week, still off by over 23% since Jan. 1.
