3i shareholder returns reach 1 bln pounds at half year

(Corrects headline, first and second paragraphs to show these are shareholder returns not returns to shareholders)

LONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Investment company 3i Group reported shareholder returns of more than 1 billion pounds ($1.24 billion) in the six months to Sept. 30 after benefiting from the fall in sterling, it said on Thursday.

The group, which has private equity, infrastructure and debt management divisions investing in northern Europe and North America, produced shareholder returns of 1 billion pounds or 23 percent of shareholders' funds compared to 168 million in the same period in 2015.

3i declared an interim dividend of 8.0 pence, half of its base dividend and said the board expected to recommend a total dividend for the year of no less than the 22 pence, paid in the year to 31 March 2016.

It made 654 million pounds after selling assets such as owner of baby brands Mayborn and more recent investments such as Geka which makes cosmetic brushes and Basic-Fit, a discount gym operator.

Chief Executive Simon Borrows said the London-listed group would continue to be active in both deploying capital and realising its investments for the remainder of the financial year, which ends in March 2017.

He said there had been limited impact of Britain's vote to leave the European Union on the group but the steep fall in sterling added translation benefit to the investment portfolio's performance as it is reported in pounds. The group recorded a total net foreign exchange gain of 283 million pounds.

With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) very low interest rates globally, alternative investment funds are benefiting from a flood of capital looking for yield. But this has resulted in more private equity money chasing deals and pushing up valuations.

"I believe we are going to be locked into a low interest rate environment in Europe, where most of our investments are, for some time to come," Borrows said on a call with reporters.

The group's net asset value per share rose to 551 pence from 463 pence on March 31, 2016.

($1 = 0.8037 pounds) (Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva. Editing by Jane Merriman)