3i, Europe's biggest private equity house, has wiped more than £700m (€1.1bn) of unrealised losses from its portfolio, making the damage for the past six months almost as bad as last year's £1bn write-down.

The firm has blamed a lack of opportunity for exits in the technology sector, which represents a quarter of its portfolio. It said it will remain committed to its early-stage high-tech investments, ploughing more capital into existing portfolio companies rather than investing in new enterprises.