3i Shares Jump as Major Holding Performs Again

Key TakeawaysAction, which is 3i’s largest holding and a driver of its long-term outperformance, reported a strong start to 2026.3i lifted added to its position in Action, which now comprises nearly one-third of the portfolio.With returns driven by Action, 3i is the best-performing investment trust for the last decade.

3i Group III, the UK’s largest investment trust with a value of £31 billion, gained roughly 9% Thursday following its update on the final three months‘ of 2025. 3i reported strong sales growth from the trust’s largest holding, European discount retailer Action.

In a performance update on the third quarter of its financial year, 3i reported 4.9% like-for-like sales growth for Action, a privately held company, in the 52 weeks to Dec. 28 and a 16% increase in net sales. The trust disclosed 6.1% sales growth for Action in the first four trading weeks of 2026.

In the last three months of 2025, 3i received a dividend of £246 million from Action and a near £1 billion payout following the retailer’s capital restructuring. The trust then reinvested around £800 million into building its position in Action, which now makes up 62.3% of the portfolio. This compares with a 57.9% weighting at the mid-point of 2025.

The trust has also entered into a further agreement to purchase shares in January, which will bring equity ownership in Action to 65.3% at the end of the month.

“In 2025, Action continued its impressive growth trajectory,” Simon Borrows, chief executive of 3i, said. “It opened a record number of new stores, entered two new countries and delivered double-digit annual sales and earnings growth. This was a strong result and Action continued to trade well, even in markets with a cautious consumer backdrop.”

Other companies in the trust’s portfolio, including Royal Sanders and Audley Travel, performed well in the nine months to the end of 2025, he said.

The trust increased its net asset value per share to £30.17 as per Dec. 31, 2025, up from £28.57 on Sept. 30, with a total return of 20% for the nine months to Dec. 31.

3i Shares Have Outperformed, Despite a Volatile 2025

The investment trust has been one of the best-performing UK companies over a long period and the success of Action has accounted for much of this outperformance. But Thursday’s share price jump follows a period of volatility and the share price is still around 10% lower than at this point in January 2025. In November 2025, 3i’s shares fell 20% on softening trading conditions for Action in France, a key European market for the retailer.

The latest share price move now implies that the trust is trading at a premium of roughly 13% against the updated net asset value, or NAV.