3i Infrastructure on track for full year after strong first half

Infrastructure investment company 3i Infrastructure reported a “strong” first half on Tuesday, with a total return of £250m, or 10.6% on its opening net asset value, “substantially ahead” of its medium term target return of 8% to 10%.

The FTSE 250 firm’s net asset value per share increased to 291.2p, with the portfolio overall performing ahead of expectations, both financially and operationally.

It completed the acquisition of DNS:NET, an independent telecommunications provider in Germany, during the period, further improving the diversification of its portfolio.

The company delivered a total shareholder return of 4.2% in the period, compared to the 8.4% delivered by the FTSE 250.

Since IPO, its annualised total shareholder return was 12.4%, comparing favourably with the broader FTSE 250’s 7.9% annualised return over the same period.

3i Infrastructure said it had achieved that long-term outperformance with a low correlation to the broader equity market.

Its board announced an interim dividend of 5.225p per share, scheduled to be paid on 10 January to shareholders on the register on 26 November.

“It has been a strong first half performance from our resilient portfolio,” said chair Richard Laing.

“We are well positioned for the second half and are on track to deliver our dividend target, 6.6% higher than last year.”

At 0900 GMT, shares in 3i Infrastructure were up 1.06% at 332.5p.