3i Group Share News (III)

Shares in 3i Infrastructure dropped on Friday morning after it reported a year-on-year decline its first quarter total return. The closed-ended investment company reported a total return of £71.0m, compared to £89.1m in 2013, while the total return on opening net asset value (NAV) fell to 6.6% from 8.6% a year earlier. The NAV per share progressed steadily from 125.2p to 126.4p. The total dividend per share was increased from 6.59p to 6.70p. Peter Sedgwick, Chairman of 3i Infrastructure, said: "We made good progress in the implementation of our strategy, which is to deliver our return objectives by maintaining and building a portfolio primarily focused on the core infrastructure market, while also increasing in a measured way our exposure to primary public-private partnership (PPP) and renewable energy projects. "Furthermore, we have agreed a number of changes to the Investment Advisory Agreement which will benefit shareholders and, importantly, secure the services of 3i as investment adviser for the company."During the period the group saw strong portfolio income generation, with an increase of £10m compared to last year. 3i also said it had renewed its investment activity, with £84m invested and committed in the year. The share price dropped 0.68% to 381.37p by 08:40.NR