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3i Group plc (“3i”, or “the Group”) will be holding a capital markets seminar this morning, involving presentations from the management team of Action, our largest portfolio company. The seminar will include a presentation on Action’s results and strategy, as well as a separate presentation focused on Action’s sustainability programme. A live webcast of the seminar will take place at 10:00 (UK time), with the sustainability session starting at 12:30 after a short break, and expected to end by 13:15. To register for the webcast, please visit https://www.3i.com/investor-relations. An on-demand webcast of the seminar will also be available by the end of the day.

As disclosed in our Q3 performance update, in its 2023 financial year Action generated net sales of €11,324 million and operating EBITDA of €1,615 million, 28% and 34% respectively higher than in 2022. Like-for-like sales growth was 16.7% and the business added 303 stores in the year. Operating leverage and good cost discipline were the main drivers behind the increased EBITDA margin of 14.3%. 

Action has seen a strong start to 2024 across all its geographies. In the period to the end of week 11, net sales were €2.5 billion, 21% ahead of the same period in 2023.  Like-for-like sales growth in the first 11 weeks of the year (which, compared to the same period last year, had one fewer trading day) was 9.6%, with growth in transactions accounting for over 100% of the strong performance.  Cash and cash equivalents as at 17 March 2024 was €1,077 million. The business has added 32 stores in the year to date, including Action’s first two stores in Portugal.  Action is planning to make another dividend payment to shareholders in the last week of March. More details on Action's performance will be available in the presentation. 

We have also recently completed our semi-annual portfolio company review meetings. The rest of the 3i portfolio continues to demonstrate overall resilience with the majority of companies showing good momentum into 2024.  Our full year results will be published in May.

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