Canadian uranium producer Cameco reports quarterly loss

(Reuters) - Canadian uranium producer Cameco Corp reported a quarterly loss, hurt by a higher impairment charge and weakness in the Canadian dollar and forecast a fall in uranium sales for 2016. The company expects 2016 uranium sales to fall up to 5 percent compared with 2015. "We are still waiting on a market recovery that was expected to come sooner," Chief Executive Tim Gitzel said in a statement. Cameco's uranium sales rose to 11.2 million pounds in the fourth quarter compared with 10.7 million pounds a year earlier. Average realized prices fell 8 percent to $46.36 per pound. The company reported a net loss of C$10 million ($7.19 million), or 3 Canadian cents per share, attributable to shareholders for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. Cameco had a profit of C$73 million, or 18 Canadian cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter. The company took an impairment charge of $210 million related to the Rabbit Lake operation in the fourth quarter compared with $131 million a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned 38 Canadian cents per share. Revenue rose 9.7 percent to C$975 million. (Reporting by Manish Parashar in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey, Bernard Orr)