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11 November 2021 3i Group plc announces results for the six months to 30 September 2021 High quality portfolio drives strong result Total return of £ 2,199 million or 24 % on opening shareholders ' funds ( September 2020 : £ 1,142 million , 15 % ) and NAV per share of 1,153 pence ( 31 March 2021 : 947 pence ) after paying 21 pence second dividend in July 2021 . ● 3i ● Our Private Equity portfolio continues to perform strongly , with a gross investment return of £ 2,373 million in the period , or 27 % ( September 2020 : £ 1,245 million , 19 % ) . The majority of top 20 Private Equity investments demonstrated considerable momentum in the period , and in particular those in our chosen areas of focus of value - for - money , e - commerce , consumer and healthcare . These continue to benefit from our active management and long - term structural growth trends , some of which were accelerated by the pandemic . Action continues to surpass expectations . Its growth has accelerated since the lifting of Covid - related restrictions , resulting in sales in the nine months to the end of period nine 2021 of € 4.8 billion , 25 % ahead of the same period last year . Like - for - like sales growth over the same period was also strong at 12.9 % , compared to negative 2.5 % in the same period last year . Action delivered last twelve months EBITDA of € 765 million to the end of period nine 2021 ( September 2020 : € 579 million ) . Strong trading continued into October 2021 , with sales increasing to € 5.4 billion and last twelve months EBITDA of € 777 million . The international roll - out is proceeding well and the business is on track to open about 270 new stores in 2021 . In competitive markets for new investment our Private Equity business has continued to deploy capital selectively , with new investments in MAIT and the newly created ten23 health platform , as well as bolt - on investments for Cirtec Medical , Luqom and Havea in the period . Investment activity has continued since the period end , with a new investment in Dutch Bakery , transformational bolt - on acquisitions for Garten Haus and ten23 health and a bolt - on acquisition for Evernex . We signed the realisation of Magnitude Software in September 2021 , which completed at the start of November 2021 , returning £ 345 million of proceeds to 3i , representing a 109 % uplift on 31 March 2021 value . The sale achieved a sterling money multiple of 2.5x and sterling IRR of 44 % after a holding period of two and a half years . In November 2021 , we completed a £ 36 million co - investment in insightsoftware , the company that acquired our investment in Magnitude Software and announced the partial sale of our stake in Basic - Fit at € 44.25 per share , generating proceeds of c . £ 146 million . Our Infrastructure business delivered a gross investment return of £ 60 million , or 5 % ( September 2020 : £ 134 million , 12 % ) . This return was driven by the increase in 3i Infrastructure plc's share price and dividend income . Our other Infrastructure investment vehicles and our direct US investments performed in line with expectations in the period . First FY2022 dividend of 19.25 pence per share , in line with policy . This will be paid to shareholders in January 2022 . Simon Borrows , 3i's Chief Executive , commented : " We saw good growth from our two investment portfolios in the first half of the year and this momentum has continued into November . 3i is beginning to see a significant compounding effect from the performance of today's carefully selected Private Equity portfolio . Despite the social and economic uncertainty that we have seen over the last 18 months , competition for private assets remains very strong . While we will continue to deploy capital selectively in new and bolt - on investments , we are also in a good position to benefit from favourable market conditions through our realisation pipeline to deliver attractive returns for our shareholders . " 1