3i Group Regulatory News (III)

10 November 2016

3i Group plc announces half-year resultsto 30 September 2016

An excellent first half performance

· Strong progression in NAV per share to 551 pence (31 March 2016: 463 pence), after payment of 16 pence FY2016 final dividend and total return of £1,006m or 23% of opening shareholders' funds

· Private Equity gross investment return of £989m underpinned by continued strong financial and operational performance across the portfolio

· Very busy period for Private Equity realisations with proceeds of £654m at a money multiple of over 2x. Patient approach to investing in an environment where valuations remain high; invested £287m in two new Private Equity investments, Schlemmer and BoConcept

· Good progress in Infrastructure with the particularly strong performance from 3i Infrastructure plc ("3iN") contributing to a gross investment return of £90m in addition to fee income. 3i invested £131m in 3iN's equity raise, all of which has now been invested or committed

· Debt Management launched two new CLOs in Europe and one in the US despite challenging markets

· On 25 October 2016 3i announced the sale of the Debt Management business to Investcorp for gross cash proceeds of £222m. The sale is expected to complete by 31 March 2017 subject to closing conditions

· Interim dividend of 8.0 pence in line with our dividend policy

· We expect to recommend a total dividend for the year of no less than the 22.0 pence total dividend paid in respect of the year to 31 March 2016

Simon Borrows, 3i's Chief Executive, commented:

"3i continues to benefit from its clear strategy and a portfolio with limited exposure to the repercussions caused by the current geopolitical and financial market volatility. We are navigating these challenges from a position of strength; our diverse portfolio, rigorous investment processes and robust balance sheet underpin our confidence about the future success of the Group." 

Financial highlights1 

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

For further information regarding the announcement of 3i's half yearly results to 30 September 2016, including a live videocast of the results presentation at 10.00am, please visit www.3i.com.

Notes to editors

3i is a leading international investment manager focused on mid-market Private Equity, Infrastructure and Debt Management. Our core investment markets are northern Europe and North America. For further information, please visit: www.3i.com.

Notes to the announcement of the results

Note 1

All of the financial data in this announcement is taken from the Investment basis financial statements. This Half-yearly report has been prepared solely to provide information to shareholders. It should not be relied on by any other party or for any other purpose.

The financial information for the year ended 31 March 2016 contained within this announcement does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. The statutory accounts for the year to 31 March 2016, prepared under IFRS, have been reported on by Ernst and Young LLP and delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The report of the Auditor on these statutory accounts was unqualified and did not contain a statement under section 498(2) or section 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006.

Note 2

A pdf of the 3i Group plc Half-yearly report 2016 will be available on our website www.3i.com and is also attached below.

Note 3

This announcement may contain statements about the future including certain statements about the future outlook for 3i Group plc and its subsidiaries ("3i"). These are not guarantees of future performance and will not be updated. Although we believe our expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any statements about the future outlook may be influenced by factors that could cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different.

Note 4

The interim dividend is expected to be paid on 4 January 2017 to holders of ordinary shares on the register on 9 December 2016.

Key performance highlights

for the six months to 30 September 2016

Summary financial data under the Investment basis

3i prepares its statutory financial statements in accordance with IFRS. However, we continue to report using a non-GAAP "Investment basis" as we believe it aids users of our report to assess the Group's underlying operating performance. Total return and net assets are the same under the Investment basis and IFRS and we provide a reconciliation of our Investment basis financial statements to the IFRS statements.

Unless stated, all balances are on continuing operations1.

Chief Executive's review

Introduction

3i has delivered a strong set of results despite the backdrop of geopolitical and financial market volatility.

The Group continues to benefit from its clear strategy and a defensive portfolio which has limited exposure to the early repercussions of the Brexit referendum. 3i is an international business and 70% of the Group's assets are denominated in euros or US dollars and the steep devaluation of sterling has added a translation benefit to the strong underlying performance of the Group's investment portfolio in the first half.

As a result, 3i reported first half returns in excess of £1 billion (September 2015: £168 million) and a NAV per share of 551 pence (31 March 2016: 463 pence). 3i's financial performance was underpinned by continued strong earnings growth in the Private Equity portfolio and supported by good levels of dividend and fee income from Infrastructure and Debt Management, as well as 3i Infrastructure plc's ("3iN") strong share price appreciation.

As announced on 25 October 2016, we have agreed to sell our Debt Management business to Investcorp. Since our strategic review in 2012, the Debt Management business has played an important role in the Group's restructuring. Predominantly a third-party asset management business, it has provided us with cash fee income, contributing to achieving and maintaining a Group operating cash profit, as well as good cash returns from our investments in the underlying CLOs. However, the cash income from Debt Management is now less important as we focus on building our Private Equity and Infrastructure portfolios from a robust position, with a strong balance sheet and a lean cost base.

A diversified portfolio

In Private Equity we have an international portfolio focused on defensive sectors, with limited exposure to areas of the market that have experienced the most challenges over the last 18 months.

Following our decision to revalue Action in June 2016, the business has continued to deliver consistently strong like-for-like sales growth and rapid store expansion and was valued at £1,549 million at 30 September 2016 (31 March 2016: £902 million). By the end of October 2016, Action had opened over 790 stores, having reached over 100 stores in Germany and 200 stores in France. The third distribution centre opened south east of Paris in June 2016 with a fourth and fifth planned for 2017 in the Toulouse and Mannheim regions respectively. In addition, its first stores in Austria are performing very well. With significant white space available in its target countries and a highly energised management team, Action is on target to open considerably more stores this calendar year than last year (141 net new stores) and is well positioned to continue its exceptional growth story.

Scandlines has continued to perform robustly, generating good levels of cash flow in the year to date. By the end of 2016, two new vessels will have come into operation on the route between Rostock and Gedser and as a result, Scandlines will have significantly increased its capacity prior to the start of the new calendar year. Apart from Scandlines, we continued to see strong performance from assets invested in since the 2012 strategic review with Basic-Fit, ATESTEO, Aspen Pumps and Euro-Diesel showing significant progress in their development.

Our effective investment processes and active portfolio management are central to how we deliver returns and are intended to minimise the risk of material loss. However, we do have some exposure to sectors that are subject to cyclical end markets, as well as a few troubled legacy assets. Some assets continue to feel the impact of their customers' reduced capital expenditure, which is at its lowest level since the financial crisis in 2008. In addition, weaker consumer sentiment and reduced footfall are impacting the earnings growth potential in some of our retail investments.

The Group's holding in 3iN performed particularly strongly in the period, in addition to providing dividend and fee income. In June, 3i invested £131 million in 3iN's £385 million capital raising to maintain its 34% stake. By the end of the period, the majority of the equity raise had been invested and 3iN's share price increased from the offer price of 165 pence to close at 194 pence.

The strength of our proprietary capital proposition

Over the last four years, we have built our Private Equity and Infrastructure businesses into focused and effective operations capable of generating mid-teen returns through the cycle. We believe that the greatest opportunities for shareholder returns lie in mid-market Private Equity investment in sectors where we have a proven track record, and in Infrastructure.

However, with so much investment dry powder having built up in recent years, it is very important that we maintain our price and process disciplines. In an environment where valuations remain high, markets are chasing yield and good M&A opportunities are scarce, our proprietary capital approach in Private Equity allows us to be conservative and patient in our approach. Subject to market conditions, we aim to invest in four to seven new Private Equity investments a year, committing up to £750 million. We invested just under £300 million in two new investments in the first half and announced a €150 million investment in Ponroy Santé in November 2016.

We have maintained our focus on realisations from our Private Equity portfolio and took advantage of the favourable market conditions in the period to dispose of five companies and three quoted holdings. In the first half, we generated £669 million of cash proceeds across our three business lines, of which £654 million was generated by Private Equity.

Dividend

In line with our updated dividend policy, we have declared an interim dividend of 8.0 pence, which is half of our 16.0 pence base dividend. In view of the exceptional performance of the Group in the year to date, the Board expects to recommend a total dividend for the year of no less than the 22.0 pence total dividend paid in respect of the year to 31 March 2016.

Outlook

The macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape continues to be challenging and investor confidence is particularly susceptible to negative news flow. In this context, we will remain cautious and disciplined in our investment approach, and focused on enhancing the value of our portfolio. To date, we have seen little direct impact on our businesses from the UK's EU referendum result but we continue to monitor developments closely.

We are navigating these challenges from a position of strength. Our robust balance sheet and diverse portfolio, together with the rigorous approach of our investment processes, underpins our confidence about the future success of the Group.

Simon Borrows

Chief Executive

Business review

Private Equity

Private Equity performed strongly in the first half despite the challenging macroeconomic and market conditions. In June 2016, we announced a material increase to the valuation of Action following a number of third party approaches and its continued strong financial and operating performance. In addition, we are seeing strong performance in the portfolio built since the strategic review in 2012, together with some excellent realisations from earlier vintages. With the benefit of further foreign exchange translation gains, the gross investment return for the six-month period was a very strong £989 million, or 26% on the opening portfolio (September 2015: £246 million, 8%).

Investment activity

We completed two new acquisitions in the first half in our consumer and industrial target sectors. In July 2016, in a public-to-private transaction where the majority of the shares were owned by the founding family, we invested DKK1,144 million (£132 million) in BoConcept, an urban living brand headquartered in Denmark. In August 2016, we invested €182 million (£155 million) in Schlemmer, a global leader in cable management solutions for the automotive industry headquartered in Germany. In both cases, 3i had built a strong relationship with the management teams. 3i will use its experience to help both businesses expand internationally, maximise market opportunities and drive operational efficiencies.

We continue to see an interesting range of investment opportunities across our international network and we recently announced our €150 million investment in Ponroy Santé, a manufacturer of natural healthcare and cosmetics products based near Nantes, France.

Table 1: Private Equity cash investment in the six months to 30 September 2016

Realisations activity

As market conditions remained favourable, we had a very busy first half. In total we generated £654 million of proceeds at an average money multiple of 2.3x. The realisations included a mix of older assets such as Mayborn and Polyconcept, as well as more recent investments such as Geka and Basic-Fit. We also took advantage of supportive equity market conditions to exit a number of quoted holdings.

In June 2016, we completed the IPO of Basic-Fit, the largest 'value for money' fitness club operator in Europe. The IPO raised proceeds of €400 million and allowed 3i to reduce its holding from 44% to 24%. Total gross cash proceeds to 3i were £82 million (a 1.1x cash multiple to date). 3i's remaining stake was valued at £195 million at 30 September 2016, taking total returns to £277 million (3.5x), compared to a value of £208 million at 31 March 2016.

In total, we generated realised profits of £52 million representing an uplift over opening value of 9%, excluding refinancings (September 2015: £26 million and 9%). Mayborn and Amor were sold in the first quarter and were valued on an imminent sales basis at 31 March 2016. We continue to make good progress towards our longer-term plan to hold a portfolio of 30-40 assets and at 30 September 2016 the portfolio had reduced to 44 assets and 3 quoted stakes (31 March 2016: 47 assets and 5 quoted stakes).

In early October, we announced that we had signed an implementation agreement for the sale of ACR. The transaction is expected to complete by early 2017 but we have not reflected the uplift to sale value as at 30 September 2016.

Table 2: Private Equity realisations in the six months to 30 September 2016

Portfolio performance

The portfolio performed strongly in the first half and generated unrealised value growth of £643 million (September 2015: £174 million).

Table 3: Unrealised profits/(losses) on the revaluation of Private Equity investments1in the six months to 30 September

Performance

Continued strong performance of the investments valued on an earnings basis resulted in an increase in value of £282 million (September 2015: £171 million). The largest driver behind the increase is Action. Action is valued using its run rate earnings over the last twelve months to 30 June 2016. As announced at the end of June 2016, we increased the valuation of Action due to a number of offers and its improved financial and operational performance. At 30 September 2016 Action was valued at £1,549 million (31 March 2016: £902 million) and as the largest Private Equity investment by value, represented 36% of the Private Equity portfolio by value (31 March 2016: 24%).

The investments made since our strategic review in 2012 are showing good progress, with Scandlines (a further investment in December 2013 where we doubled our holding), Basic-Fit, Euro-Diesel, Aspen Pumps and ATESTEO all delivering good earnings growth. All five assets are market leaders in attractive segments, the majority of which have good potential to continue to gain market share, and together they contributed £158 million of returns and £146 million of realised proceeds during the period. In particular, the partial realisation of Basic-Fit at its IPO and the subsequent increase in share price contributed £61 million to portfolio returns in the half year.

We cannot be immune to market volatility and macroeconomic developments are impacting pockets of the portfolio. We saw continuing weakness in a limited number of assets, especially those exposed to capital expenditure in the oil and commodities sector (Dynatect and JMJ) or weaker consumer sentiment and decelerating tourist flows which have reduced spending on discretionary consumer goods in Europe. In particular, Agent Provocateur continues to be impacted by declining luxury spend in a number of its key markets. The effect of this has been compounded by the inconsistent execution of its recent store expansion programme and the discovery of accounting issues. We are supporting the new management team to put in place a new strategic plan, which involves a restructuring of the business. Agent Provocateur is still a valuable brand and, as part of this restructuring, we have provided further investment of £4 million in the quarter to 30 September 2016. Reflecting these challenges, we reduced the value of our investment by £39 million in the period and this is included in the other movements category in Table 3.

Overall the majority of the portfolio (83% of assets valued on an earnings basis) grew its earnings in the period. Two investments were valued using forecast earnings at 30 September 2016 (31 March 2016: two), representing less than of 1% of the portfolio by value (31 March 2016: 2%).

Table 4: Portfolio earnings growth of the top 20 Private Equity assets1

We took the opportunity to refinance the debt in ATESTEO in the first half. Since our investment, ATESTEO has increased its EBITDA by 50%, which allowed it to refinance its debt on a prudent basis and repay part of 3i's shareholder loans. Overall, net debt across the portfolio increased to 3.1x EBITDA (31 March 2016: 2.9x). Table 5 shows the ratio of net debt to EBITDA by portfolio value at 30 September 2016.

Table 5: Ratio of net debt to EBITDA1

Multiple movements

The multiple used to value Action increased from 14.0x at 31 March 2016 to 16.8x post discount at 30 September 2016. Excluding Action, the weighted average EBITDA multiple declined to 10.4x before marketability discount (31 March 2016: 10.8x) and was 9.7x after marketability discount (31 March 2016: 10.1x) principally due to the IPO of Basic-Fit which was valued using a multiple materially higher than the average. As noted in the Annual report and accounts 2016, we consider other factors such as exit plans, relative performance and investment size when setting valuation multiples. Market volatility in the period meant that we continued to adjust multiples down in 17 out of the 25 companies (31 March 2016: 17 out of 29) valued on an earnings basis. The pre-discount multiples used to value the portfolio ranged between 6.5x and 17.7x (31 March 2016: 6.5x to 14.7x) and the post discount multiples ranged between 5.8x and 16.8x (31 March 2016: 5.5x to 14.0x). The combined effect of changes in multiples across the portfolio resulted in an increase in value of £300 million in the period (September 2015: £24 million decline).

Discounted cash flow ("DCF")

As at 30 September 2016, the largest portfolio company valued on a DCF basis was Scandlines, valued at £434 million. It generated value growth of £47 million due to strong trading over the early summer months as well as an update to its weighted average cost of capital ("WACC").

Quoted portfolio

The Private Equity quoted portfolio, including Basic-Fit which listed in June 2016, generated an unrealised value gain of £56 million (September 2015: £2 million loss) which is detailed in Table 6 below.

Table 6: Quoted portfolio movement for the six months to 30 September 2016 

Assets under management

The value of Eurofund V ("EFV") continued to grow, with a money multiple at 30 September 2016 of 2.0x (31 March 2016: 1.7x). Investments made since the 2012 strategic review, including the further investment in Scandlines, are making good progress with a sterling multiple of 1.6x at 30 September 2016. The value of 3i's Proprietary Capital increased to £4.4 billion in the period (31 March 2016: £3.7 billion). The value of the portfolio including third party capital increased to €7.3 billion (31 March 2016: €6.8 billion).

Infrastructure

Infrastructure continued to make good progress and contributed a gross investment return of £90 million, or 17% on the opening portfolio (September 2015: £23 million, 4%). This was driven by 3iN's strong share price appreciation together with good levels of dividend and fee income from both 3iN and other infrastructure funds managed by the team.

In May 2016, 3iN announced a 7.55 pence per share dividend target for FY2017, as well as a £350 million capital raise. Both initiatives were well received in the market and the equity offer at 165 pence per share was significantly oversubscribed. The final amount raised, gross of fees, was £385 million. 3iN's share price closed at 194 pence on 30 September 2016.

In a competitive market with interest rates remaining at all-time lows and continued compression in market returns, 3iN announced four new investments for a total consideration of £287 million in the period (September 2015: £187 million). The team completed three new investments in mid-market economic infrastructure businesses: Wireless Infrastructure Group, TCR and Valorem and made an investment commitment to the Hart van Zuid greenfield PPP project in the Netherlands. In addition post period end, 3iN announced a commitment to invest in the A27/A1 greenfield PPP project in the Netherlands and an approximately £185 million investment in Infinis. As a result, all of the proceeds from the capital raise have now been fully deployed.

Overall, the 3iN portfolio continues to perform well and generated a total return of 5% in the period. Under the terms of the investment advisory agreement, 3iN paid an advisory fee of £11 million to 3i (September 2015: £8 million) with the increase attributable to new investment activity.

The team is focused on managing the 3iN portfolio actively and embedding the new assets to maximise shareholder value and continues to see a good flow of new investment opportunities. In light of the strong demand for infrastructure assets as capital flows towards more defensive sectors, the team remains disciplined and focused on maintaining a balanced and attractive portfolio.

Performance

The Group's infrastructure portfolio consists primarily of its 34% stake in 3iN. In June 2016, 3i invested £131 million in 3iN's £385 million capital raise to maintain its 34% stake.

3iN's share price performed strongly in the period as infrastructure stocks in general were well positioned in the volatile market conditions following the aftermath of the UK's referendum on its membership of the EU. The yield offered by 3iN continues to be attractive to investors in the current low interest rate environment. 3iN's total shareholder return was 17% in the period (September 2015: 7%). 3i also has an investment in the 3i India Infrastructure Fund, where the team has made progress towards the realisation of the assets.

In total, the Infrastructure portfolio generated unrealised value growth of £76 million in the period (September 2015: £11 million).

Table 7: Unrealised profits/(losses) on the revaluation of Infrastructure investmentsin the six months to 30 September

Assets under management

Infrastructure AUM increased to £2.7 billion (31 March 2016: £2.4 billion) principally due to 3iN's fundraising and strong performance.

Debt Management

On 25 October 2016 we announced our decision to sell our Debt Management business to Investcorp for gross cash proceeds of £222 million. The business is classified as discontinued operations at 30 September 2016. As part of the transaction, Investcorp is acquiring Debt Management's CLO equity investments, valued at £182 million at 30 September 2016, required to meet the risk retention requirements. Investcorp will also take over the warehouse commitments in Europe and the US.

In total, at 30 September 2016 we had £319 million (31 March 2016: £229 million) of proprietary capital invested in the Debt Management business.

Table 8: Proprietary capital invested in Debt Management  

3i made a net cash investment of £50 million in the period in warehouses ahead of CLO issuance and in the equity of new CLOs launched in the period.

Assets under management

The Debt Management team continued to make good progress in its core CLO business, raising £1.0 billion in new assets by issuing two CLOs in Europe and one in the US. Non-CLO AUM remained broadly stable in the period. Overall, Debt Management AUM increased to £9.0 billion at 30 September 2016 (31 March 2016: £8.1 billion) as the new CLO AUM raised and favourable foreign exchange movements more than offset the run-off of older funds.

Investment portfolio performance

After the volatile start to the 2016 calendar year, our CLO equity investments performed well in terms of mark-to-market gains, cash distributions and fee income. In addition, both the European and US CLO markets are proving resilient to the volatility resulting from the UK referendum on its membership of the EU. European loan prices in the secondary market have been relatively robust, with year-to-date CLO issuance of €14.0 billion, which is in line with the prior year. Activity levels in the European primary loan market pipeline remain low and transactions are being dominated by recapitalisations, repricings and refinancings.

In the US, loan prices are continuing to recover from last year's credit concerns about specific sectors such as oil and gas, and commodities, but new deal flow is materially below 2015 levels. The US market continues to benefit from strong support as new CLO issuance, retail fund dividend reinvestment and institutional demand have driven loan prices up. New CLO issuance continues to favour managers with a strong following in the market and those able to invest equity in the CLOs. Early 2016 volatility and equity constraints have kept new CLO issuance significantly below 2015 levels, with calendar year to date volumes at 72% of the previous year.

Debt Management unrealised value movement

Debt Management recognised an unrealised value gain of £13 million in the first half (September 2015: £18 million loss), relating principally to the mark-to-market valuation gains on the CLO equity portfolio. Reversing losses recognised in previous periods, CLO equity valuations recovered strongly in the first half. European CLO valuations benefited from strong secondary market demand for CLO equity. Following a difficult start to calendar year 2016, US CLO equity prices improved as markets recovered.

In addition to the unrealised gain of £13 million (September 2015: £18 million loss), the business generated £27 million of portfolio income (September 2015: £15 million) and £24 million of fee income (September 2015: £17 million).

Financial review

Strong financial performance

3i delivered a gross investment return from continuing operations of £1,079 million (September 2015: £269 million) and an operating profit before carry of £1,042 million (September 2015: £207 million) driven by strong value growth, especially from Action, and the positive impact of foreign exchange translation.

Overall, 3i generated a total return including discontinued operations of £1,006 million, or a profit on opening shareholders' funds of 22.6%, in the first half (September 2015: £168 million or 4.4%). As a result, the diluted NAV per share at 30 September 2016 increased to 551 pence (31 March 2016: 463 pence) after the payment of the final FY2016 dividend of £154 million, or 16.0 pence per share (September 2015: £133 million, 14.0 pence per share).

Table 9: Total return 

Realised profits

Continued exit momentum from continuing operations in the first half resulted in 3i realising profits on disposal of £51 million (September 2015: £29 million) and proceeds totalling £666 million (September 2015: £358 million) from Private Equity and Infrastructure. Private Equity generated £654 million of the proceeds and £52 million of profits on disposal. Realisations, excluding refinancings, were achieved at an uplift over opening value of 9%, which reflects the fact that Mayborn and Amor were valued on an imminent sales basis at the beginning of the financial year, and the sale of £143 million of quoted holdings.

Unrealised value movements

The unrealised value movement of £719 million (September 2015: £185 million) was due to strong earnings growth in a number of our key Private Equity assets. The uplift in the Action valuation, announced in June 2016, contributed £547 million of the unrealised value growth, but we also saw encouraging performance from Private Equity investments made since the strategic review in 2012, as well as strong share price progression in 3iN.

Table 10: Unrealised profits on revaluation of investments (continuing operations)for the six months to 30 September

Further information is included in the business line sections.

Portfolio income

The portfolio generated income of £36 million in the period (September 2015: £54 million). Although dividend income from 3iN remained stable, we received lower interest and dividend income from Private Equity following a number of disposals as well as increased abort costs.

Net foreign exchange movements

At 30 September 2016, 70% of the Group's assets were denominated in euros or US dollars. Following the result of the UK's referendum on its membership of the EU and the subsequent weakening of sterling against the euro and the US dollar, the Group recorded a total net foreign exchange gain of £283 million (September 2015: £9 million loss) during the period.

The Group is a long-term investor and does not hedge its foreign currency denominated portfolio, where flows from currency realisations are matched with currency investments where possible. Short-term contracts are used occasionally, and typically to hedge investments and realisations between signing and completion.

The net foreign exchange gain also reflects the translation of non-portfolio net assets, including non-sterling cash held at the balance sheet date.

Table 11: Net assets and sensitivity by currency at 30 September 2016

Excluding the net assets associated with our Debt Management business reduces the euro net assets by £208 million and US dollar net assets by £131 million. A 1% movement in the Euro and US dollar foreign exchange rates impacts total return by £28 million and £6 million respectively.

Net interest payable

Gross interest payable was £25 million (September 2015: £24 million), of which £8 million related to interest charges on our bond due in March 2017. A balance of €312 million relating to this bond remains at 30 September 2016, following €19 million of open market purchases since 31 March 2016. The undrawn revolving credit facility was extended by one year to September 2021 in September 2016 at no extra cost, following an agreement with all but one of the participating banks. The total amount of the facility is £329 million (31 March 2016: £350 million).

Interest receivable was £1 million (September 2015: £2 million).

Carried interest and performance fees

We pay carried interest to participants in our carry schemes on proprietary capital invested and receive carried interest from third-party funds.

Table 12: Carried interest and performance fees (continuing operations)for the six months to 30 September

Our largest Private Equity fund, EFV, went through its performance hurdle on a valuation basis in the first half of the year. This led to a corresponding increase in carried interest receivable from Limited Partners in EFV. Carried interest receivable from EFV of £199 million was recognised in the first six months (September 2015: nil). This is calculated assuming that the portfolio was realised at the 30 September 2016 valuation. The fund's multiple was 2.0x at 30 September 2016 (31 March 2016: 1.7x).

In Private Equity, we typically accrue carried interest payable at between 10 and 15% of gross investment return. The majority of assets by value are now held in schemes that would have met their performance hurdles, assuming that the portfolio was realised at the 30 September 2016 valuation. We accrued carried interest payable of £302 million (September 2015: £36 million) for Private Equity in the period, of which £153 million relates to the team's share of carried interest receivable from EFV (September 2015: nil). Having gone through the hurdle in EFV, we now expect that net carried interest payable for FY2017 will accrue at the lower end of the 10-15% of gross investment return range.

Carried interest is only paid to participants when the hurdles are passed in cash terms and then only when the cash proceeds are actually received following a realisation or refinancing event. During the period, £61 million was paid on Private Equity plans (September 2015: £8 million). In particular the disposal of Amor took the related 2010-12 carried interest plan through its cash performance hurdle.

Overall, the effect of the income statement charge, the cash movement as well as the currency translation meant that the balance sheet carried interest and performance fees payable increased to £657 million (31 March 2016: £404 million) and the receivable increased to £296 million (31 March 2016: £122 million).

Pension

There was a re-measurement loss on the Group's pension scheme of £19 million during the period (September 2015: £1 million loss). The liability of the Group's UK defined benefit pension scheme increased in the period following a decrease in the discount rate. This was partially offset by an increase in the underlying asset valuations.

On an IAS 19 basis the pension scheme remains in a surplus. The next triennial valuation of the scheme's funding position at 30 June 2016 is underway and will be completed no later than September 2017.

Tax

The Group's parent company is an approved investment trust company for UK tax purposes. Approved investment trust companies are used as investment fund vehicles. The tax exemption for capital profits from which they benefit ensures that investors do not suffer double taxation of their investment returns. The majority of the Group's returns are capital returns for tax purposes (realised profits and fair value movements) and are substantially non-taxable. As a result, the Group's tax charge in the period was £2 million (September 2015: £1 million tax credit).

Operating cash profit

Table 13: Operating cash profit (continuing operations) for the six months to 30 September

3i made an operating cash loss from continuing operations of £4 million in the period (September 2015: £3 million loss). Cash income increased to £50 million (September 2015: £47 million) principally due to the increase in the third party capital fees in Infrastructure to £18 million (September 2015: £14 million). Cash fee income from our managed Private Equity funds and third parties declined to £2 million (September 2015: £5 million). Operating expenses incurred during the period increased to £54 million (September 2015: £50 million) principally due to additional share based payment expense. Investment in the front office capability in Private Equity and Infrastructure remains a priority and we remain very focused on costs.

Including Debt Management, the Group made an operating cash profit of £34 million in the period (September 2015: £17 million).

Balance sheet

Table 14: Simplified Group balance sheet and gearing

The Group's balance sheet is strong with net cash of £187 million at 30 September 2016 (31 March 2016: £165 million). The investment portfolio value increased to £5,073 million at 30 September 2016 (31 March 2016: £4,497 million) as unrealised value growth of £719 million, foreign exchange gains of £273 million and cash investment of £422 million offset the book value of realisations in the period. Further information on investment and realisations is included in the business line sections.

Liquidity

Liquidity also remained strong at £1,360 million (31 March 2016: £1,352 million) and comprised cash and deposits of £1,031 million (31 March 2016: £1,002 million) and undrawn facilities of £329 million (31 March 2016: £350 million). Our €312 million bond, due in March 2017, will be repaid out of cash resources.

Principal risks and uncertainties

3i's risk appetite statement, approach to risk management and governance structure are set out in the Risk section of the Annual report and accounts 2016 which can be accessed on the Group's website at www.3i.com 

In delivering the Group's strategy we face a number of risks. These are monitored on an ongoing basis and managed by:

· adhering to our clearly defined and established business model;

· following an integrated risk management approach; and

· maintaining our clearly defined risk appetite and monitoring our key risk indicators.

Although the business environment in the six months to 30 September 2016 has been challenging, given the political and economic uncertainty and volatile market conditions, there has been no significant change to our risk management approach or risk appetite. The decision to sell the Debt Management business, announced on 25 October 2016, will allow the Group to focus on proprietary capital investment in its established Private Equity and Infrastructure business lines.

The principal risks to the achievement of the Group's strategic objectives for the remaining six months of its financial year are unchanged and summarised below. This is not a comprehensive list of all potential risks and uncertainties faced by the Group, but rather a summary of the risks which it currently believes may have a significant impact on its performance and future prospects.

External - Risks arising from external factors including political, legal, regulatory, economic and competitor changes which affect the Group's operations. There has been a significant amount of uncertainty in the global economy over the last year and more recently following the UK's referendum on its membership of the EU. Although we cannot be immune to wider market conditions, our well-funded balance sheet and portfolio of international companies position us well as the wider implications of the referendum result unfold. As a result we do not consider Brexit on its own to be a principal risk to the Group.

Investment - Risks in respect of specific asset investment decisions, the subsequent performance of an investment or exposure concentrations across business line portfolios.

Operational - Risks arising from inadequate or failed processes, people and systems or from external factors affecting these. We continue to review and improve our governance and controls to protect our information and infrastructure.

The Group Risk Committee meets four times a year. The risk review process includes the monitoring of dashboards which track the Group's financial performance and progress against its strategic objectives at a Group level and for each of the Group's business lines. This assists the Committee in its assessment of the key risks affecting the achievement of the Group's objectives and the effectiveness of current risk mitigation plans.

The Committee also has a number of focus areas, which are agreed in advance of each meeting. Topics discussed in the period included a discussion of the result of the UK's referendum on its membership of the EU and impact on the Group and its portfolio companies as well as a review of environmental and social governance on the investment portfolio.

This Half-yearly report provides an update on 3i's strategy and business performance, as well as market conditions, which are relevant to the Group's overall risk profile and should be viewed in the context of the Group's risk management framework and principal inherent risk factors as disclosed in the Annual report and accounts 2016.

Reconciliation of the Investment basis to IFRS

Background to Investment basis numbers used in the Interim Management report

The Group makes investments in portfolio companies directly, held by 3i Group plc, and indirectly, held through intermediate holding company and partnership structures ("investment entity subsidiaries"). It also has other operational subsidiaries which provide services and other activities such as employment, regulatory activities, management and advice ("trading subsidiaries"). The application of IFRS 10 requires us to fair value a number of investment entity subsidiaries that were previously consolidated line by line. This fair value approach, applied at the investment entity subsidiary level, effectively obscures the performance of our proprietary capital investments and associated transactions occurring in the investment entity subsidiaries. The financial effect of the underlying portfolio companies and fee income, operating expenses and carried interest transactions occurring in investment entity subsidiaries are aggregated into a single value. Other items which were previously eliminated on consolidation are now included separately.

As a result we include a separate non-GAAP "Investment basis" Statement of comprehensive income, financial position and cash flow to aid understanding of our results. The Interim Management report is also prepared using the Investment basis as we believe it provides a more understandable view of our performance. Total return and net assets are equal under the Investment basis and IFRS; the Investment basis is simply a "look through" of IFRS 10 to present the underlying performance.

Reconciliation between Investment basis and IFRS

A detailed reconciliation from the Investment basis to IFRS basis of the Statement of comprehensive income, Statement of financial position and Cash flow statement is shown later in this document.

Reconciliation of consolidated statement of comprehensive income

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Reconciliation of consolidated statement of financial position

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Reconciliation of consolidated cash flow statement

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IFRS FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive income