Some sparkling performers in its investment portfolio helped investment manager 3i (III) deliver an impressive set of results for the year to March 2016. Specialising in private equity, infrastructure and debt management, it was the private equity side that provided the key growth driver.
Gross investment return here of just over £1bn represented an investment return of 32 per cent on the opening portfolio at the start of the year, with the group wisely eschewing any exposure to the energy and commodity sectors. With such a solid portfolio performance, there were realisations of £743m, with a further £224m announced soon after the year-end. Around £365m of this has been invested in three new portfolio companies: Audley Travel, Weener Plastic and Euro-Diesel.
All of this is good news for shareholders because, as well as increasing the dividend, 3i is boosting the minimum dividend payout from 8.1p to 16p a year, with an additional final dividend linked to cash realisations, the investment pipeline and the balance sheet at the end of the year. The one restriction is that gearing remains less than 20 per cent, and gross debt is less than £1bn. At the year-end, gross debt stood at £837m and there was zero gearing.
On the infrastructure side, fund advisory and management activities brought in cash income of £49m, up from £47m a year earlier.
| 3i (III) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 531.5p | MARKET VALUE: | £5.17bn | |
| TOUCH: | 531.5-532.5p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 563p | LOW: 389p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.1% | PE RATIO: | 6 | |
| Premium to NAV | 9% | NET CASH: | £165m | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 279 | -777 | -82.8 | 8.1 |
| 2013 | 311 | 363 | 38.3 | 8.1 |
| 2014 | 348 | 520 | 54.8 | 20 |
| 2015 | 396 | 702 | 73.9 | 20 |
| 2016 | 463 | 819 | 85.6 | 22 |
| % change | +17 | +17 | +16 | +10 |
Ex-div: 16 Jun Payment: 22 Jul | ||||
