3i Group: Dutch supermarket Action continues strong performance
3i Group, the country’s largest investment trust, has reported its main holding Action has “continued to perform strongly”.
Action, the discount store chain spread across Europe, dominates 3i Group’s portfolio, to the point that many have described the trust as a ‘holding company’ for Action.
The supermarket has seen like-for-like sales growth of nine per cent so far this year, with 107 new stores opened compared to 84 at this point last year.
“The like-for-like performance is a combination of a high volume of transactions, driven specifically by the sale of everyday necessities, and a negative price effect,” the trust said.
Action has also been cutting prices for consumers, thanks to its growing buying power, further upping its appeal on the market and raising its market share.
The budget store is also “set for another good quarter of profit growth”, 3i Group said, with a cash balance of 825m euros (£698m) as of last week.
Action has also launched a €1.75bn (£1.5bn) debt issuance, which has since been upsized to €2.1bn (£1.8bn).
“The remainder of the private equity portfolio continues to demonstrate resilience with the majority of the portfolio trading well,” added 3i Group.
“The trends driving portfolio performance are consistent with those set out in our full-year results.”