TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian uranium and electricity producer Cameco on Wednesday reported a 93% year-on-year drop in first-quarter profit as lower sales, lower prices and higher costs impacted on the company’s performance.
Net earnings for the quarter ended March 31 were $9-million or $0.02 a share, compared with $129-million or $0.33 a share in the same period a year earlier. Adjusted earnings for the period were $27-million or $0.07 a share, compared with $121-million or $0.31 a share a year earlier.
Analysts had on average expected adjusted profit of $0.08 a share on revenue of $456.34-million.
However, revenue came in at 5% lower than the same period of 2012, at $444-million, dented by a 38% drop to 5.1-million pounds in uranium sold in the quarter.
The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based company said higher expenditures for administration owing to the addition of Nukem’s administration and advisory fee, and costs for corporate restructuring, also impacted its performance in the period.
Cameco noted the uranium market was in a ‘wait-and-see’ mode, and events such as reactor restarts in Japan and a significant return to long-term contracting by utilities would crystalise new contracting opportunities.
Cameco’s TSX-listed shares fell 1.58% to C$19.33 apiece on Wednesday morning.