Investing.com -- 3I Infrastructure PLC (LON:3IN) released a performance update covering the period from October 2025 through late January 2026, which includes a full write-down of its DNS:NET investment after a sharp deterioration in financing conditions across the German fibre sector.
The company said it no longer expects to secure debt funding to support DNS:NET’s planned network rollout, leaving the existing asset base with effectively no equity value once company debt is taken into account.
Shares in the investment firm tumbled nearly 7% in early London trading on Monday.
The move follows the December debt restructuring at Deutsche Glasfaser, a major national fibre operator carrying around €7 billion of debt, which 3i said severely reduced financing availability across the sector.
As a result, 3i expects a £212 million write-down at the March net asset value (NAV), equivalent to roughly a 23p per share hit to NAV.
"The main trigger of this deterioration was news in December of a significant restructuring of the debt at the largest altnet rolling out fibre across Germany," 3i Infrastructure said in the update.
"Assuming no further debt can be raised to support the continuation of the roll out, we now expect that the value of the existing equity in the company is likely to be written down to zero in our next valuation of the portfolio at the March 2026 year end," it added.
Turning to other 3i’s assets, the group said TCR secured a €100 million capex facility while its sale process remains active with strong buyer interest.
"We expect an update in the coming months," RBC Capital Markets analysts led by Alexander Wheeler said in a note.
Joulz also completed two bolt-on acquisitions within its European energy solutions platform that are expected to lift EBITDA by around 70%, supported by €107 million of new equity from 3i Infrastructure.
SRL, meanwhile, continued to face operational challenges previously flagged at interim results, while the remainder of the portfolio tracked broadly to plan or better, 3i said.
3i maintained its full-year dividend target of 13.45p per share, with income and non-income cash of £53 million in line with expectations.
Net debt stood at around £500 million following partial funding of the Joulz acquisitions, with management continuing to position expected TCR disposal proceeds toward reducing the revolving credit facility and supporting future investments.
RBC analysts said the DNS:NET issues appear “unique to the German fibre sector,” while noting that "other portfolio companies are largely performing in line with or exceeding expectations."
The broker cut its price target to 430p to reflect the write-down but kept an Outperform rating, with analysts pointing out that other assets continue to generate returns close to the group’s long-term 8%–10% target range and that potential TCR disposal proceeds could still be "materially NAV accretive."
