3i Group Share News (III)

- NAV up 3.5 per cent YTD- 4p special interim divi- No medium-term plans for new fund3i, the multinational private equity and venture capital company, disappointed investors on Thursday when it revealed it has no plans to launch a new fund in the current or next financial year. Shares fell despite the group posting a "solid" private equity portfolio performance in its half year results, and a special interim dividend of 4p a share.Simon Borrows, 3i's Chief Executive, was quoted by Reuters as saying: "We obviously are focused on when is the appropriate time to launch a new private equity fund [...] it is not something that is going to happen in this financial year or even in the next financial year." The group's interim results revealed an increase in the net asset value (NAV) to 322p, from 311p at March 31st. The gross portfolio return rose 75% from £180m to £315m year-on-year, with the net portfolio return up 135% from £109m to £257m. In the report Borrows said: "The group has performed well during the first six months of the financial year which reflects the strong progress we have made against our strategic priorities. We are now generating some real momentum in the business. "Given our strong run of realisations, combined with a net cash position and good levels of liquidity, we are initiating additional shareholder distributions. For the financial year 2014, we expect to propose a total dividend of 20p per share, including the annual base dividend of 8.1p per share."The share price retreated 3.01% to 359.65p by 09:50 on Thursday.NR