3i has come out fighting at its year end, launching a €3bn ($2.7bn) fund for third-party investors and issuing £300m of bonds after reporting profits of £137m (€220m) for the second half of the year.

The positive second-half return is a sharp turnaround from the first half of the year ended, when the UK private equity firm lost £1.1bn. The combined result for the year ended March 31, 2002, was a loss of £960m. This was almost entirely due to a fall of £890m in the value of 3i's investments.