URANIUM

Uranium one Q3 loss narrows, revenue dropped 62%

The group says its total attributable production for 2009 remains unchanged

Posted: Friday , 13 Nov 2009

TORONTO (Reuters) - 

Uranium One (UUU.TO: Quote) said on Friday its third-quarter loss narrowed from a year earlier when it included a massive writedown.

The Canadian company, whose main operations are in Kazakhstan, posted a loss of $11.9 million, or 3 cents a share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30. That compared with a loss of $2.01 billion, or $4.30 a share, a year earlier, when the company absorbed a $2.8 billion writedown on assets in the United States and South Africa.

On an adjusted basis, the company posted a loss of 2 cents a share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had expected a per-share loss of 1 cent, before items.

Revenue fell 62 percent to $21.3 million as uranium prices dropped and the company sold less uranium.

The company said average total cash cost per pound sold decreased to $15 per pound during the quarter, down from $17 per pound during the second quarter of 2009.

The company said its total attributable production outlook for 2009 remains unchanged at 3.5 million pounds, but it lowered its 2010 production to 6.8 million pounds from 7.5 million pounds, largely due to underperformance at its Kharasan and a slower ramp-up at South Inkai.

The company agreed in June to sell a 17% equity stake to Russia's state-owned Rosatom in exchange for a 50 percent holding in the Karatau mine in Kazakhstan.

It is also completing a C$270 million private placement with Japanese investors Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote), Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T: Quote) and the Japan Bank of International Cooperation. ($1=$1.05 Canadian) (Reporting by Scott Anderson; Editing by Derek Caney)

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