(Wyoming Business Report, April 29) – Cameco Corporation saw gross profit rise from $95 million in the first quarter of 2013 to $108 million in the first quarter of 2014, an increase of 14 percent.
Adjusted net earnings went from $27 million in Q1 2013 to $36 million in Q1 2014, an increase of 33 percent. Revenue for the same periods slipped a bit, from $444 million in 2013 to $419 million in 2014, a dip of 6 percent.
According to a company release, the change in earnings was mainly due to higher earnings from the company’s uranium segment, based on higher sales volumes and realized prices.
The strong first quarter results were “driven by higher uranium deliveries and realized prices, and the sale of our interest in Bruce Power Limited Partnership,” Cameco President and CEO Tim Gitzel said in a release. Gitzel also noted that the company’s operations performed well, with the highlight being the startup of production at the Cigar Lake mine in the Athabasca Basin in Canada.
In a press conference at company headquarters in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Gitzel noted that, “As an industry, we saw positive signs in Japan, where a new energy policy confirmed that nuclear power will remain an important source of energy.”
The United States’ largest uranium producer, Cameco USA, which is a subsidiary of Cameco Corporation, is headquartered in Cheyenne, with an exploration and development office in Casper and two uranium mines, the Smith Ranch-Highland near Glenrock and the Crow Butte near Crawford, Nebraska.
