Pinetree Capital Ltd. Announces Unaudited Financial Results For The Three And Nine Months Ended September 30, 2008

November 14, 2008

TORONTO , Ontario (November 14, 2008) – Pinetree Capital Ltd. (“Pinetree”) (TSX: PNP) today announces its unaudited financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2008.

During the third quarter, Pinetree generated a net loss of $210.9 million, as compared to a net loss of $92.3 million in the same quarter last year. The net loss was primarily due to net investment losses of $256.2 million in the quarter, comprised of realized gains on dispositions of investments of $5.2 million, unrealized losses on investments of $257.6 million and losses from equity accounted investments of $3.8 million. The unrealized losses on investments includes a write-down of $24.5 million, representing 50% of the fair value of the Company’s portfolio of privately-held investments, in order to reflect general market conditions. Loss per share was $1.63 as compared to a loss per share of $0.93 in the three months ended September 30, 2007.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2008, Pinetree generated a net loss of $262.5 million, as compared to a net loss of $89.4 million in the same period last year. The net loss was primarily due to net investment losses of $324.4 million in the period, comprised of realized losses on dispositions of investments of $1.6 million, unrealized losses on investments of $318.8 million and loss from equity accounted investments of $4.0 million. The unrealized losses on investments includes the write-down of privately-held investments as described above. Loss per common share was $2.21 as compared to a loss per share of $0.96 in the nine months ended September 30, 2007.

The composition of Pinetree’s investment portfolio (accounted for at fair value) by sector as at September 30, 2008, as compared to the end of the prior quarter and last year end is outlined in the following table:

 

	September 30, 2008		June 30, 2008		December 31, 2007
Sector	($’000)	% of Total	($’000)	% of Total	($’000)	% of Total
Resources:
Precious Metals	75,716	32.4	157,129	32.0	240,479	40.6
Uranium	44,276	18.9	108,610	22.1	118,384	20.0
Base Metals	44,069	18.8	92,422	18.8	72,874	12.3
Oil & Gas	18,988	8.1	38,204	7.8	45,543	7.7
Molybdenum	18,171	7.8	28,400	5.8	50,506	8.5
Potash and Rare Earths	5,410	2.3	19,203	3.9	17,052	2.9
Total Resources	206,630	88.3	443,968	90.4	544,838	92.0
Technology/Other	15,394	6.6	28,064	5.7	23,805	4.0
Biotechnology	7,416	3.2	11,519	2.2	11,400	2.0
Energy Related Technology	4,547	1.9	8,161	1.7	11,996	2.0

As at September 30, 2008, total investments at fair value stood at $234.0 million as compared to $592.0 million as at December 31, 2007. The number of investments decreased to 427 from 487 at the end of the last year. Of the 427 investments, 371 or 86.9% (December 31, 2007 – 88.7%), were in the resource sector, reflecting Pinetree’s continued focus on resources.

Net asset value per share decreased to $2.02 as at September 30, 2008 from $4.20 as at December 31, 2007.

“Adverse market conditions during 2008 have had a significant and prolonged impact on market participants in virtually all sectors”, said Sheldon Inwentash , Chairman and CEO of Pinetree. “The junior resource space in which we are primarily focused has been particularly impacted by the softness in commodity prices and broader market issues. This is reflected in our net loss for Q3 and led to our decision to reduce the fair value of our privately-held investments. We believe that these results reflect current market conditions rather than our longer-term buy-and-hold investment strategy. For example, amidst the turmoil of Q3, we sold our investment in Gold Eagle Mines (acquired by Goldcorp), which we acquired through an investment in a junior mining company in 2002, for a net realized gain in Q3 of approximately $8.0 million (an 82.8% return on our investment). We continue to believe that the longer-term fundamentals of the resource sector are strong and have confidence in our investment strategy, which is premised on opportunity, insight and patience.”

About Pinetree

Pinetree Capital Ltd. ("Pinetree") was incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario and its shares are publicly-traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) under the symbol “PNP”. Pinetree is a diversified investment and merchant banking firm focused on the small cap market. Pinetree’s investments are primarily in the resources sector: Uranium, Oil & Gas, Molybdenum, Precious Metals, Potash and Rare Earths, and Base Metals. Pinetree’s investment approach is to develop a macro view of a sector, build a position consistent with the view by identifying micro-cap opportunities within that sector, and devise an exit strategy designed to maximize our relative return in light of changing fundamentals and opportunities.

For more details about Pinetree and its investments, please visit our website at www.pinetreecapital.com

Use of Non-GAAP Measures

“Net asset value per share” is a non-GAAP measure defined as shareholders’ equity divided by the total number of common shares of Pinetree outstanding. The term net asset value per share does not have any standardized meaning according to GAAP and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. We believe that the measure provides information useful to our shareholders in understanding our performance, facilitates the comparison of the quarterly and year-end results of our ongoing operations and provides a meaningful measure to evaluate our business relative to that of our peers.

Investor Relations:
Larry Goldberg, C.A.
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Pinetree Capital Ltd.
130 King Street West, Suite 2500
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5X 1A9
Phone: 416-941-9600
Email: ir@pinetreecapital.com
Web Site: www.pinetreecapital.com