Cameco Corp, the world’s second-biggest uranium producer, posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss, partly hurt by the termination of a contract by Tokyo Electric Power Co, operator of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant.
The Canadian company said its results were also hurt by weak uranium prices amid a prolonged glut.
Spot prices of uranium, used to fuel nuclear reactors, dipped to a 13-year low late last year and have rebounded only modestly in 2017.
Cameco said severance costs and a strengthening Canadian dollar also weighed on its first-quarter results.
The net loss attributable to Cameco’s equity holders was C$18 million, or 5 Canadian cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, compared with a profit of C$78 million, or 20 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company lost 7 Canadian cents per share, bigger than the average analyst estimate of 1 Canadian cent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue at the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based company fell nearly 4 percent to C$393 million, with declines stemmed by high revenue from its Nukem unit, which is a nuclear fuel broker.
Analysts had expected revenue of C$372.345 million. ($1 = C$1.36)