I sent an email to Larry Goldberg, VP & CFO at Pinetree to obtain a copy of their report indicating their valuations of NOT and what reasons they had for investing in NOT. As expected I did not get what I was looking for as this is a copy of his response:
"As at December 31, 2007 we held 10,067,300 shares of Noront. It is allocated to the precious metals sector. Note 3 to our financial statements as at December 31, 2007 (available on SEDAR AT http://www.sedar.com/DisplayCompanyD... ) provides this information for Noront and other disclosed holdings. We do not make further comment on any of our individual investments. Thank you.
Larry Goldberg C.A. Executive Vice President &
Chief Financial Officer
Phone: 416-860-3896Fax: 416-941-1090Email: lgoldberg@pinetreecapital.com www.PinetreeCapital.com
So I was courious as to what percentage of ownership they had and how many more shares they purchased based on the latest PP; so using the Genuity report at 9.7% I calculated that they have purchased between 2.1 and 3.2 million shares. (see chart below) I do not have to remind you that there is only one reason to buy a company and that is for an expectation the value will increase. If I am not mistaken we all think the same unless we are playing the dark side of the markets. To further complicate the numbers, based on the the Noront January 2008 presentation (from website) it says the following specific to ownership: Noront Management (10%), Pinetree Capital (10%), Rosseau Asset Management (9%) Sprott Asset Managent (9%), IBK Capital (4%), SPGP (3%) for a total of 45% over 6 holders. And according to the latest Genuity report it says Noront Management is 5%, Pinetree is 9.7%, Sprott 9% so there is a bit of a disconnect between reports and whether or not it is something to worry about I say no. The only number I would question is Genuity reporting Noront Management at 5%; the others may have reduced or added to their positions and thus the reasons for the small changes. SO I would question the accurancy of one of the reports and since Noront Management have better information then I will go with their report over the accuracy of the Genuity report, but close enough for me with the exception of the Noront Management % at 5%. I am not questioning the upgrade on NOT from Genuity and infact welcome it and would hope that they (Genuity) increase their recommendations hopefully soon from the expected and coming positive NR's. On another positive note I have a colleage who has just opened a position in NOT today and is also looking at other McFauld's area players. I think he will be very pleased with his decision. Sorry for the long email and I look forward to any comments and suggestions from all posters.
| Pinetree Ownership |
|
|
|
|
| Number of Shares |
10,067,300 |
|
as of December 31, 2007 |
| Shares O/S |
125,573,082 |
8.02% |
owership of O/S Shares |
| Shares F/D |
136,800,000 |
7.36% |
owership of F/D Shares |
| Pinetree Projected # of Shares (O/S shares From Genuity report) |
12,180,589 |
9.70% |
F/D from Genuity Report |
| Pinetree Projected # of Shares (F/D shares from Genuity report |
13,269,600 |
9.70% |
O/S from Genuity Report |
| No. of new Shares |
2,113,289 |
Est on O/S basis from latest PP |
| No. of new Shares |
3,202,300 |
Est on F/D basis from latest PP |
