Cameco: Strong finish to 2019; 2020 outlook reflects our strategic resolve and growing optimism

About this update from Cameco Corporation

[{"type":"text","content":" SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Feb. 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cameco (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) today reported its consolidated financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2019 in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). “As expected, we had a strong finish to 2019,” said Tim Gitzel, Cameco’s president and CEO. “We delivered 14 million pounds of uranium in the fourth quarter, and, in 2019, we generated $527 million in cash from operations, demonstrating our financial resilience. “We continue to do what we said we would do, and our results and outlook for 2020 are a direct result of our deliberate, value-oriented strategy. We are executing on all strategic fronts; operational, marketing and financial. We added just over 36 million pounds of deliveries to our long-term contract portfolio, more than replacing what we delivered in 2019, while maintaining leverage to higher future uranium prices. In addition, we have more prospective long-term business in the contract pipeline than we have seen since 2011. We are responsibly managing our supply, and our balance sheet is strong. We are starting 2020 with $1.1 billion in cash and $1 billion in long-term debt with maturities in 2022, 2024 and 2042. “Our optimism and confidence in a uranium market transition is growing, driven by the long-term fundamentals. The underlying fact is that uranium demand is going up, while supply is going down. Today, the market is failing to send the appropriate signals. Current prices are putting future supply availability at risk. This is not sustainable. The longer the transition takes, the greater the likelihood that the uranium price will go beyond what is required to incent tier-one production to return to the market. We expect this will provide the opportunity for us to capture additional value in our contract portfolio and support the restart of our tier-one assets. “We are committed to identifying and addressing the environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities that we believe may have a significant impact on our ability to add long-term value for our stakeholders. We have a vision to ‘energize a clean air world,’ which is clearly aligned with the world’s growing demand for energy, while helping to avoid some of the worst consequences of climate change. Thanks to our str...

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