London, April 6, 2026, 17:08 BST
3i Group managed to rebound ahead of London’s Easter break, ending April 2 up 3.99% at 2,687 pence. With the London Stock Exchange shuttered for Good Friday and Easter Monday, Thursday’s finish remained the reference point for sentiment.
Investors are busy rethinking Action’s value ahead of 3i’s annual results on May 14. As of December 31, 3i held a 62.3% stake in Action and reported a diluted net asset value—portfolio value minus liabilities—of 3,017 pence per share. Back in January, Chief Executive Simon Borrows called for another strong year of compounding growth.
Back on March 26, 3i reported Action’s 2025 net sales hit 16 billion euros, with operating EBITDA at 2.367 billion euros—a key profitability gauge. Looking ahead to 2026, 3i projects 4% to 5% like-for-like sales growth, anchored by at least 400 additional net stores and targeting a stable 14.8% EBITDA margin. For the first 12 weeks, sales climbed 14.5% to 3.7 billion euros; France, however, trailed internal targets.
The sharper shift was a deliberate move. Action plans to launch its first southeastern U.S. location either by the end of 2027 or early 2028, according to Chief Executive Hajir Hajji. The company expects to commit between 350 million and 400 million euros through 2030, initially rolling out around 20 stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, and setting its sights on about 100 U.S. locations by decade’s end. Hajji pointed to the region’s “diverse population” and a landscape dotted with medium and large towns. Still, Reuters has pointed out that previous forays into the U.S. by European groups like Tesco and Marks & Spencer didn’t go well. London South East
Investors flinched at first. According to Reuters, 3i shares plunged 17.6% on March 26, hitting a two-year low after the Action update. The chain’s 2026 same-store sales goal roughly matched the 4.9% growth posted for 2025, but that didn’t cushion the selloff. Shares finished Thursday at 2,687 pence—recovering some ground, but the loss remained.
This isn’t a recent shift. Back in its 2025 annual report, 3i disclosed that as of March 31, 2025, holdings tied to value-for-money and private-label products accounted for 74% of the portfolio. That number highlights just how much the group rides on the consumer trade-down trend—something core to Action.
Still, the risks are clear enough. Matthew Read, a senior analyst at QuotedData, noted that Action makes up roughly 70% of 3i’s NAV—a setup that piles on “huge concentration risk if things go wrong.” He also pointed out that investors who came in at a hefty premium don’t have much protection if sentiment sours. QuotedData
Now, execution is up next. Charles Murphy, senior research analyst at Singer Capital Markets, points out that the larger U.S. risk might not be the upfront cash—it’s the management bandwidth it takes to start from zero, building stores and distribution. Sure, if it works, there’s more runway for growth. But for investors, the real question: Can France stabilize, and will Action manage to break into the U.S. market without slowing down in Europe?
