PNP Pinetree Capital Ltd

Pinetree Capital Ltd. (TSX:PNP) (“Pinetree” or the “Company”) today announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2018.  All financial information provided in this press release are in $’000 except per share amounts and shares outstanding.

Financial results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2018

The following information should be read in conjunction with our annual audited Consolidated Financial Statements, prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) and our annual Management Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2018, which can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Selected Financial Information 

	Three months ended December 31,				Year endedDecember 31,
	2018		2017		2018		2017
Net investment loss	(330	)	(392	)	(2,164	)	(1,482	)
Other income	74		46		275		665
Total expenses	125		216		471		917
Net loss for the period	(381	)	(562	)	(2,360	)	(1,734	)
Loss per share – basic & fully diluted	(0.04	)	0.06		(0.26	)	(0.25	)

The net investment loss for the three months ended December 31 2018 was $330 (three months ended December 31, 2017 –$392) as a result of a net change in unrealized losses offset by realized losses on investments as described below.

For the three months ended December 31, 2018, the Company had $163 net realized gains on disposal of investments as compared to net realized losses of $15,230 for the three months ended December 31, 2017.

For the three months ended December 31, 2018, the Company had a net change in unrealized losses on investments of $493 as compared to a net change in unrealized gains of $14,838 for the three months ended December 31, 2017. 

For the three months ended December 31, 2018, other income (comprised of interest and dividend income) totalled $74 as compared to $46 for the three months ended December 31, 2017.

The net investment loss for the year ended December 31 2018 was $2,164 (December 31, 2017 –$1,482) as a result of a net change in unrealized losses offset by realized losses on investments as described below.

For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company had $5,350 net realized losses on disposal of investments as compared to $17,697 for the year ended December 31, 2017.

For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company had a net change in unrealized gains on investments of $3,186 as compared to $16,215 for the year ended December 31, 2017. 

For the year ended December 31, 2018, other income (comprised of interest and dividend income) totalled $275 as compared to $665 for the year ended December 31, 2017.

	As at December 31, 2018		As at December 31, 2017
Total assets		16,375		18,697
Total liabilities		395		392
Net asset value		15,980		18,305
Shares outstanding		9,045,198		9,045,198
Net asset value per share – basic*	$1.77		$2.02

As at December 31, 2018, the Company held investments at fair value totaling $8,969 as compared to $9,268 as at December 31, 2017, a 3% decrease, attributable net investment losses during the year ended December 31, 2018.

The following is Pinetree's NAV per share and Operating Expenses per NAV for the eight most recently completed interim financial periods:

	Shares Outstanding	Net Asset Value (NAV)	Operating Expenses2(excluding F/X g(l)) (OpEx)	NAV per share – basic1	QuarterlyOpEx per NAV1
		$'000s	$'000s	$	%
Dec-31-18	9,045,198	15,980	103	1.77	0.6
Sept-30-18	9,045,198	16,326	171	1.80	1.0
Jun-30-18	9,045,198	18,925	121	2.09	0.6
Mar-31-18	9,045,198	18,639	139	2.06	0.7
Dec-31-17	9,045,198	18,305	195	2.02	1.1
Sep-30-17	9,045,198	18,867	209	2.09	1.1
Jun-30-17	9,045,198	18,839	130	2.08	0.7
Mar-31-17	4,522,599	10,154	246	2.25	2.4
Dec-31-16	4,522,599	10,649	311	2.35	2.9

1 Refer to “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures”Shares Outstanding and Net Asset Value amounts are as at the Quarter End dateOperating Expenses amounts are for the Three months ending the Quarter End date2Operating Expenses do not include Foreign Exchange gain (loss) on financial assets other than investments

Appointment of New Chief Financial Officer

Ms. Susan Fox, Pinetree’s Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) since May 2016, has resigned as CFO and as an officer of the Company and will be leaving the Company effective March 1st, 2019.  As a successor to Ms. Fox, the board of directors of the Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. John Bouffard as its CFO.

Mr. Bouffard is a Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant and has been a contractor for Pinetree since January 1st, 2019, providing accounting and finance services.  He has experience in a variety of roles and industries over the last ten years; beginning his career with BDO Canada in the Audit & Assurance group, followed by accounting and finance positions in commercial real estate, not-for-profit and most recently, digital media.  Mr. Bouffard is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Wilfrid Laurier University with a specialization in Accounting.

“On behalf of the board of directors, I want to extend our sincerest thanks to Sue for all of her hard work and dedication since she joined Pinetree,” said Peter Tolnai, the Chairman of the Company. “We fully respect and understand Sue’s decision and wish her nothing but the very best in the future. We are also delighted to welcome John Bouffard as our new CFO.”

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements herein may be “forward looking” statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Pinetree or the industry to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved.  A number of factors could cause actual results to vary significantly from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements reflect current assumptions and expectations regarding future events and operating performance and are made as of the date hereof and Pinetree assumes no obligation, except as required by law, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new events or circumstances.

Non-IFRS Measures, Non-GAAP Measures

NAV (net asset value per share) is a non-IFRS (international financial reporting standards) measure calculated as the value of total assets less the value of total liabilities divided by the total number of common shares outstanding as at a specific date. The term NAV does not have any standardized meaning according to IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies.  There is no comparable IFRS measure presented in Pinetree’s consolidated financial statements and thus no applicable quantitative reconciliation for such non-IFRS financial measure.  The Company has calculated NAV consistently for many years and believes that NAV can provide information useful to its shareholders in understanding its performance and may assist in the evaluation of its business relative to that of its peers.

About Pinetree Capital Ltd.

Pinetree is a diversified investment and merchant banking firm focused on the small cap market, with early stage investments in technology, and resource companies.  Pinetree’s common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol “PNP.”

For further information:

Damien LeonardChief Executive Officer416-941-9600ir@pinetreecapital.comwww.pinetreecapital.com