LONDON, June 27, 2026, 21:03 BST
- 3i closed Friday at 2,532p, jumping 14.99% in five sessions, but down 22.40% for 2026.
- Action like-for-like sales are up 3.3% year-to-date at week 25, compared to 2.4% at week 19.
- After Friday’s close, Fidelity and Morningstar showed the shares trading at a 15.66% discount to estimated NAV.
- Shareholders gave 99.98% support to renew the buyback authority. By June 19, £216.8 million was already spent.
3i Group plc (LON:III) heads into the weekend with London markets closed and investors still watching whether last week’s Action update shrinks the discount that widened during May’s slide. Shares finished Friday at 2,532p, flat on the session, but MarketWatch shows a five-day rise of 14.99%. The FTSE 100 closed out Friday at 10,508.02, which is up about 1.4% from the week before.
3i (LON:III) updated investors Thursday at its AGM with new numbers out of Action. Year-to-date like-for-like sales growth at the discount chain was 3.3% at the end of week 25, versus 2.4% at week 19 in May. Store openings also picked up, reaching 105 from 69 over those six weeks, or about six new stores a week.
AGM numbers moved the stock. May data showed less traffic in Germany and French shoppers held back, while cooler weather hurt seasonal sales. Shares that relied on Action for gains the last ten years took a sharp de-rating after those details.
3i’s numbers lay things out. On March 31, 3i put a £23.743 billion value on its 65.4% stake in Action. That’s out of a total portfolio of £31.821 billion. The current listed market cap is £25.53 billion, so the March Action figure makes up about 93% of 3i’s equity value.
3i says a 1.0x shift in Action’s post-discount valuation multiple would swing the value of its holding by £1.5 billion, or about 6% of 3i’s market cap as of Friday. Where the shares go next week will depend as much on Action’s multiple as its revenue.
The discount is smaller now but still open. As of Friday, Fidelity/Morningstar data put estimated NAV at 3,002.28p with a 15.66% discount. Back in May, QuotedData had the discount at roughly 34.5% to 35% after the results-day drop.
James Carthew, who leads investment company research at QuotedData, said during the announcement that the £750 million buyback “may not move the dial” and “There has to be an end game” for 3i’s Action stake. QuotedData
3i still has buyback firepower going into next week. As of June 19, the company had repurchased 9.754 million shares for £216.8 million, which comes to 28.9% of the £750 million program. Shareholders at the AGM on Thursday voted 99.98% in favor of renewing approval for the buyback.
3i Chief Executive Simon Borrows told investors in May that Action’s appeal is “quality at the lowest price.” Now, the AGM update puts a number on what’s happened since then: like-for-like sales at Action picked up by 0.9 percentage point, with 36 new stores added. 3i
3i (LON:III) got a smaller portfolio signal Friday, saying its data-centre maintenance unit Evernex bought UK-based Empowered and OrderWork. These are Evernex’s tenth deals since 3i came in back in October 2019. Marc Ohayon, a 3i partner and France private equity co-head, called it a “highly complementary acquisition.” 3i
3i’s Q1 performance update is on July 23. The market will see buyback notices ahead of that date. 3i said these buyback notices will be published no later than the end of the seventh daily session after each repurchase.
