Canadian uranium producer Cameco reported adjusted net losses for the second quarter totalling $3 million.

In its financial report, Cameco “unrealized losses on our U.S. dollar cash balances” and higher-than-normal U.S. cash resulted in $44 million in foreign exchange losses and contributed to the lower earnings. The company converts its U.S. cash at the end of the quarter, and the Canadian dollar had strengthened in the past three months. 

In the past three months, the Canadian dollar has climbed from around 0.75 cents U.S. to just under 0.78 cents U.S.

Despite the minor setback, Tim Gitzel, Cameco’s president and CEO, is still optimistic of the prospects for the company, adding that sales in this industry are “lumpy,” meaning they can come in bunches.

“Clearly, our business is solid,” he told BNN Bloomberg Wednesday. “We increased our guidance on sales, on average realized price, on revenue going forward. Things haven’t looked this good for this business in a long time, maybe forever.”

The company also reported delivery of 6.9 million kilograms of uranium in the first half of 2023, at a price 11 per cent higher than last year, while fuel services had climbed 12 per cent compared to the same period last year.

After a dark period of about 10 years for the nuclear industry, Gitzel believes that stretch is behind them as more governments look to the energy source for clean power.

“The move back to nuclear has been nothing short of astonishing in the last 18 months,” he said.

In October 2022, Cameco announced a partnership with Brookfield Renewable to purchase Westinghouse Electric Company for US$7.9 billion. On Wednesday, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority announced it would probe the deal.

Gitzel is confident the U.K. regulators will approve the take over by the end of the year, then it will be “off to the races.”

“We knew we had to get about 30 different regulatory authorities to approve (the deal),” he said. “We’re down to a couple.”

Looking ahead, Cameco is expecting its first uranium delivery from the Inkai mine in Kazakhstan in the upcoming quarter. Deliveries had been delayed due to the geopolitical situation in the region. Cameco owns 40 per cent of the operation.