Third-quarter profits at leading uranium producer Cameco fell 60 percent to USD 39 million as a result of losses on foreign exchange derivatives, reported the company this week. On an adjusted basis, earnings rose 30 percent to USD 104 million due to higher sales volume prices.

The company, which made a hostile CAD 520 million bid for junior Hathor Exploration in September, said uncertainty in the uranium market would continue in the near to medium term, as the industry figured out the impact of the Japanese nuclear disaster.

“The biggest drivers of uncertainty are concerns about excess German and Japanese uranium inventories and the extent to which deferrals and cancellations under sales contracts will introduce additional volumes into the market, said Cameco.

In the long term, the firm said it saw robust growth potential for nuclear fuel demand, as countries such as Russia, India, and China continued to build new power plants.

Cameco said it was “reviewing” Hathor’s announcement last month that it had agreed to a friendly CAD 575-million bid from diversified miner Rio Tinto, which was 11 percent higher than the uranium producer’s hostile overture.