3i Infrastructure PLC on Wednesday said profit was down despite reporting a total return ahead of expectations.

The infrastructure-focused investment trust reported pretax profit for the year ended March 31 of £394 million, down 2.5% from £404 million the year prior.

Net gains on investment were £339 million, down 12% from £384 million in financial 2022.

The firm said net asset value per share at March 31 was 336.2 pence, up from 303.3p the year prior, while NAV total return was 14.7%, ahead of the company’s target of between 8% and 10% return..

The firm declared a final dividend of 5.575 pence per share, up 6.7% from 5.225p a year ago, bringing the total dividend to 11.15p, also up 6.7% from 10.45p. The proposed dividend is in line with the company’s target announced last year, with the company setting a new target dividend of 11.90p per share for financial 2024.

Looking ahead, the company said: ‘Our portfolio is generating strong earnings growth which we are confident is set to continue. Additionally, we continue to see strong demand for high quality infrastructure investments, such as those held by 3iN, amongst private market investors.’

Chair Richard Laing said: ‘3i Infrastructure continues to deliver long-term sustainable returns. I am delighted to report that we achieved another year of outperformance, with a total return of 14.7% in the year ended 31 March 2023, well ahead of our target. We have increased the dividend per share in every year of the company’s existence.’

3i Infrastructure shares rose 0.2% to 325.00 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.

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