LoonieÂ’s pain is CamecoÂ’s gain

SASKATCHEWAN - Cameco Corp. said it continues to benefit from a falling Canadian dollar, however, an "effectively shut-down" credit market has forced the uranium miner to reexamine spending as it looks to set its budget for next year.

"Recent uncertainty in world financial markets has affected companies around the globe, including Cameco," the Saskatoon-based company said in a third-quarter earnings release.

"The capital market for debt, for Cameco and most other companies, has effectively shut down. In response, the company is re-examining its expenditures during the current budget planning process."

Still, Cameco, which holds a majority of its uranium production in Canada but sells the material in U.S. dollars, said the recent rise of the greenback would continue to have a "favourable impact" on revenues.

Cameco, the biggest producer of uranium in the world, said it expects revenue across its businesses, including a majority stake in gold miner Centerra Gold as well as interests in nuclear electricity generation, to improve between 10% and 15% over 2007, it said.

In the company's third quarter ended Sept. 30, Cameco reported net income of $135-million (39 cents a share), compared with $91-million (25 cents) a year ago. Total revenue climbed to $729-million, versus $681-million in 2007.

The year-end earnings outlook comes even as the company said uranium production dove 36% to 2.7 million pounds.

The company said production would continue to fall as delays and processing challenges at major projects is anticipated to persist, resulting in total annual output of 17.7 million pounds compared to a previous forecast of 19.6 million.

Related News

northern pass commission

New Hampshire rejects Quebec-Massachusetts transmission proposal

MONTREAL - Regulators in the state of New Hampshire on Thursday rejected a major electricity project being piloted by Quebec’s hydro utility and its American partner, Eversource.

Members of New Hampshire’s Site Evaluation Committee unanimously denied an application for the Northern Pass project, a week after the state of Massachusetts green-lit the proposal.

Both states had to accept the project, as the transmission lines were to bring up to 9.45 terawatt hours of electricity per year from Quebec’s hydroelectric plants to Massachusetts, through New Hampshire.

The 20-year proposal was to be the biggest export contract in Hydro-Quebec’s history, and would generate up to…

READ MORE
montana power lines

Investing in a new energy economy for Montana

READ MORE

UK in a Changing Europe

Opinion: UK Natural Gas, Rising Prices and Electricity

READ MORE

ontario hydro

Ontario will not renew electricity deal with Quebec

READ MORE

solar-storage-cheaper-than-conventional-power

Solar Plus Battery Storage Cheaper Than Conventional Power in Germany

READ MORE