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13 May 2021 3i Group plc announces results for the year to 31 March 2021 3i Strong result built on structural growth trends despite Covid - 19 disruption • • Total return of £ 1,726 million or 22 % on opening shareholders ' funds ( March 2020 : £ 253 million , 3 % ) and NAV per share of 947 pence ( 31 March 2020 : 804 pence ) after paying 35 pence of dividends in the year . This result is net of a foreign exchange translation loss of 41 pence per share and the 13 pence per share negative accounting impact from a fundamental de - risking of the UK defined benefit pension plan . Our Private Equity business delivered a gross investment return of £ 1,936 million or 30 % ( March 2020 : £ 352 million , 6 % ) . Many of our portfolio companies are supported by structural growth trends and have either excelled during the pandemic or adapted to the changing environment very quickly . In FY2021 we saw strong momentum in earnings growth and cash generation in portfolio companies operating in consumer goods , e - commerce , healthcare and business and technology services , while those operating in the travel and automotive segments continued to face challenges . Action delivered annual revenue growth of 10 % and EBITDA growth of 14 % in the year to December 2020 , despite prolonged periods of disruption as a result of the pandemic . The strength of this result proves the power of its unique customer proposition , its ability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances and the strength of its financial model and cash generation capabilities . This strong performance underpinned value growth of £ 1,202 million in the year . In competitive markets for new investment the Private Equity team remained selective and price disciplined , making three new investments in the year in MPM , Wilson HCG and GartenHaus , for a total of £ 275 million . We continued to focus on M & A activity by our portfolio companies and completed eight bolt - on acquisitions in total during the year , including the transformational acquisitions of Technogroup by Evernex and SaniTech West by our Bioprocessing platform , since rebranded as SaniSure . In total , we contributed £ 124 million to fund three bolt - on acquisitions in the portfolio . Only two of our portfolio companies have required liquidity support since the outbreak of the pandemic and in the year we provided a total of £ 66 million of funding to support Audley Travel and Hans Anders in this challenging environment . Our Infrastructure business delivered a gross investment return of £ 178 million , or 16 % ( March 2020 : £ ( 39 ) million , ( 4 ) % ) . This return was driven by the increase in 3i Infrastructure plc ( " 3iN " ) ' s share price and strong dividend income . Our US Infrastructure portfolio proved to be resilient in the year . Regional Rail , one of our two US investments , completed a refinancing package in March 2021 , returning proceeds of £ 74 million to 3i . Scandlines delivered a solid gross investment return of £ 25 million , or 6 % ( March 2020 : £ 5 million , 1 % ) despite significant travel restrictions impacting leisure travel on its ferry crossings . Its freight activity remained stable in 2020 , with volumes close to 2019 levels . Total dividend of 38.5 pence per share for FY2021 , with a second FY2021 dividend of 21.0 pence per share to be paid in July 2021 subject to shareholder approval . 1