Profits were down for Cameco during the recent second quarter.
CEO Tim Gitzel says a $30 million termination charge for a contract was partly to blame, along with lower realized prices and higher expenditures for exploration and administration.
According to the company, net earnings over the past three months were just $8 million compared to $55 million at the same point last year.
Gitzel stresses the company remains on track to boost uranium production to 40 million pounds by 2018:
“This just means that more of the deliveries this quarter were materials in lower-priced contracts. So you can expect to see variance in our average-realized price but overall, as we move out of lower-priced contacts that came into effect when Uranium prices were lower and into higher-priced Uranium contracts, we expect to see a general trend upwards.”
On the international stage Gitzel notes Japan is still dealing with the fallout of the Fukushima disaster.
However he points out the country is working to establish a new independent nuclear regulatory body which should help bring certainty to the restart approval process.