III : 3i continues to shrink private equity portfolio
3i’s net asset value rose by 10p to 358p over the six months that ended on 30 September 2014 and, in addition, it paid a 13.3p dividend to shareholders in July – this works out at a total return for the period of 7.1%. It plans to pay a 6p interim dividend, down from 6.7p the year before (the dividend breaks down into a 2.7p “base” dividend, which was unchanged year on year, and a 3.3p “additional” dividend). They say they expect to pay at least 15p for the full year. Operating expenses fell by 7% as did the company’s interest expense.
Total assets under management at £12.9bn were barely changed on the figure at 31 March. They cut the number of private equity holdings in the portfolio to 72 from 81 in March (long-term target is 40 holdings) and made just one new investment, Dynatect, a US headquartered manufacturer of protective equipment, acquired for $106m.
The debt management team launched two new CLOs, one in the US and one in Europe, adding £764m in new funds under management.