FTSE 100 shares round-up: 3i Group, Glencore, Antofagasta

The 3i Group company logo displayed on a smartphone screen. Photo: Piotr Swat/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.

Interest in 3i Group Ord (LSE:III) reignited today after a return to form for the driving force behind the private equity group’s 300% jump in valuation between 2022 and last October.

The shares beat miners including Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO), Glencore (LSE:GLEN) and Anglo American (LSE:AAL) to the top of the FTSE 100 index, although at 3,482p they remain some way short of last autumn’s 4,496p.

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Market jitters over top-performing investment Action, which represents more than 70% of the total portfolio by value, meant the shares dipped as far as 3,000p in early December.

The selling pressure followed half-year results in November, which warned that the Netherlands-based discount chain may miss its full-year sales target due to weaker conditions in France.

A third-quarter update by 3i today disclosed that Action grew like-for-like sales by 4.9% in 2025, which was weaker than 2024’s rate of 10.3% but better than UBS’ 4.3% forecast. It follows 56% compound growth in like-for-like sales over the previous four years.

More significantly, the new year has started well after the growth rate accelerated to 6.1% in the four weeks of January amid a return to positive sales figures in France.

Base effects have helped the performance after the roll-out of a new software system last year, although this will have been offset by this month’s snow disruption in parts of Europe.

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Action grew sales and underlying earnings by 16% and 14% respectively in 2025, while it added a record net 384 stores to expand its footprint by 13%.

Since 3i made its initial 130 million euros (£113 million) investment in 2011, Action has grown from 250 stores to more than 3,300 across 14 countries.

The success of Action made 3i the best-performing investment trust in the five years since Covid after an initial £1,000 more than quadrupled to £4,134 by last February.

As we reported in November, chief executive Simon Borrows responded to the post-interim results weakness by spending £1 million on shares at a price of 3,367p.

Borrows, who has run Britain’s oldest buyout firm since 2012, said today that Action had continued its impressive growth trajectory during 2025.

He added: “It opened a record number of new stores, entered two new countries and delivered double-digit annual sales and earnings growth. This was a strong result and Action continued to trade well, even in markets with a cautious consumer backdrop.”

Across the remaining portfolio, 3i recorded strong contributions from a number of its other leading consumer and private label portfolio companies including personal care products firm Royal Sanders and Audley Travel.

In the first nine months of its financial year, 3i said it generated £1.8 billion of realised proceeds and dividends from its portfolio while investing £1.6 billion.

Net asset value per share rose to 3,017p from September’s 2,857p, representing a total return of 20% for the nine months to 31 December.

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Borrows added: “We have made a good start to the final quarter of our financial year to 31 March and are set for another strong year of compounding growth.”

UBS, which has a price target of 4,000p, said: “We expect news of positive momentum (at Action) to be well received although questions over sustainable recovery will remain.”

The rise of Antofagasta and Glencore shares came as their latest production updates landed during another strong session for the price of key commodities including copper.

Antofagasta copper production rose 9% to 177,000 in the fourth quarter, driven by higher total output at all four of its operations. It also reported a 27% reduction in full-year net cash costs to a five-year low.

Copper production in 2026 is expected to be 650,000-700,000 tonnes, which includes an increase in output at its flagship Los Pelambres mine related to higher copper grades.

Chief executive Iván Arriagada said: “Copper’s outlook remains compelling - rising demand is being driven by energy security, electrification and increasing uptake of modern technologies, while supply growth remains constrained.

“We enter the new year with confidence in our ability to deliver safe production alongside the disciplined execution of our portfolio of growth and development projects.”

The group has four copper mines in Chile, with two of them at Los Pelambres and Centinela also responsible for significant volumes of molybdenum and gold as by-products.

The combination of record gold and copper price strength has lifted shares above 4,000p for the first time, having jumped from their post-tariffs low of 1,388p.

Peel Hunt today reiterated its Sell recommendation, as it said higher-than-expected cost guidance supported its view that the current share price is implying stronger margins than look likely in the longer term.

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Glencore shares today traded at their highest level in three years at 523p, having jumped more than 25% this year on a combination of factors including a potential M&A deal with Rio Tinto Ordinary Shares (LSE:RIO).

Today’s better-than-expected production update showed that full year volumes for Glencore’s key commodities were within guidance ranges for the second consecutive year. Copper production in the second half topped 500,000 tonnes, representing a rise of 48% over the first six months of the year.

Glencore recently set out its ambition to become a top-five copper producer by growing output from 2026’s expected 840,000 tonnes to one million by the end of 2028 and 1.6 million tonnes by 2035.