CAMECO Q4 PROFIT BEATS ESTIMATES

Cameco, the world's No. 2 uranium miner, earned C$598 million ($566.8 million), or $1.52 a share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. That compared with C$31 million, or 8 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned C$248 million or 63 cents a share.

This was driven by higher profits in gold, as realized selling price for gold stood at $1,129 per ounce in 2009 compared with $806 per ounce in 2008, the company said.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had expected on average a profit of 46 Canadian cents a share, before exceptional items.

Quarterly revenue rose 3 percent to $659 million.

Uranium revenues fell 2 percent in the period, as a 5 percent decline in sales volumes was countered by the impact of a 2 percent increase in our realized price, the company said.

Costs of sales for the quarter was C$30.29 up from C$24.16.

Cameco mines uranium primarily from its home province of Saskatchewan in Western Canada, as well as Kazakhstan and the United States.

Its main project is the Cigar Lake deposit in Saskatchewan, which flooded in 2006 and 2008 while under construction.

This month, the company said it had pumped out the flooded mine and should have it secure by October, at which point Cameco will be able to start looking ahead to a restart of construction.

The company said it is well positioned to meet its goal to double its annual mined output to about 40 million pounds by 2018.