Cameco expects strong performance to continue
CEO Tim Gitzel said Cameco expects "supportive market conditions" throughout the fuel cycle and across the nuclear sector will drive strong financial growth in 2025 following strong performance across all sectors in 2024.
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The Canadian company said its 2024 results, announced on 20 February, reflected a return to its tier-one production level. The McArthur River/Key Lake operation in Canada saw a record-breaking year: 2024 packaged production of 20.3 million pounds U3O8 (7808 tU) set a new annual production record for the Key Lake mill, as well as a world record for annual production from any uranium mill, the company said.
However, production at JV Inkai in Kazakhstan, which has continued to be impacted by ongoing supply chain issues, was down year-on-year - 2024 production from Inkai on a 100% basis was 7.8 million pounds U3O8 (3.6 million pounds for Cameco's share), 0.6 million pounds lower than in 2023.
Cameco's 2024 uranium production totalled 23.4 million pounds U3O8, up from 17.6 million pounds in 2023.
The company plans to produce 18 million pounds U3O8 (on a 100% basis) at each of its Canadian operations - McArthur River/Key Lake and Cigar Lake - in 2025, and is planning capital projects to help ensure reliability and sustainability of existing operations, including projects to address ageing infrastructure and potential bottlenecks at the Key Lake mill.
Net earnings for the year, at CAD172 million (USD120 million), were lower than in 2023 primarily due to the impact of purchase accounting related to Cameco's acquisition of Westinghouse, but other key financial metrics improved significantly, Gitzel said: " We expect our strong financial performance to continue in 2025, driven by the supportive market conditions we are seeing throughout the fuel cycle and across the nuclear sector, and through the continued benefits flowing from our investment in Westinghouse. Over the coming year, we expect to continue investing to help ensure reliability and sustainability of our existing operations, while positioning ourselves for future production flexibility and growth - growth that will be strategic, deliberate, disciplined, and with a focus on generating full-cycle value."
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