v3.26.1
Financial instruments and related risk management
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2025
Financial instruments and related risk management [Abstract]  
Financial instruments and related risk management
25.
Financial instruments and related risk management
Cameco is exposed in varying degrees to a variety of risks from its use of financial instruments. Management and the board of
directors, both separately and together, discuss the principal risks of our businesses. The board sets policies for the
implementation of systems to manage, monitor and mitigate identifiable risks. Cameco’s risk management objective in relation
to these instruments is to protect and minimize volatility in cash flow. The types of risks Cameco is exposed to, the source of
risk exposure and how each is managed is outlined below.
Market risk
Market risk is the risk that changes in market prices, such as commodity prices, foreign currency exchange rates and interest
rates, will affect the Company’s earnings or the fair value of its financial instruments. Cameco engages in various business
activities which expose the Company to market risk. As part of its overall risk management strategy, Cameco uses derivatives
to manage some of its exposures to market risk that result from these activities.
Derivative instruments may include financial and physical forward contracts. Such contracts may be used to establish a fixed
price for a commodity, an interest-bearing obligation or a cash flow denominated in a foreign currency.
Market risks are
monitored regularly against defined risk limits and tolerances.
Cameco’s actual exposure to these market risks is constantly changing as the Company’s portfolios of foreign currency and
interest rate contracts change.
The types of market risk exposure and the way in which such exposure is managed are as follows:
A.
Commodity price risk
As a significant producer and supplier of uranium and nuclear fuel processing services, Cameco bears significant exposure to
changes in prices for these products. A substantial change in prices will affect the Company’s net earnings and operating cash
flows. Prices for Cameco’s products are volatile and are influenced by numerous factors beyond the Company’s control, such
as supply and demand fundamentals and geopolitical events.
Cameco’s sales contracting strategy focuses on reducing the volatility in future earnings and cash flow, while providing both
protection against decreases in market price and retention of exposure to future market price increases. To mitigate the risks
associated with the fluctuations in the market price for uranium products, Cameco seeks to maintain a portfolio of uranium
product sales contracts with a variety of delivery dates and pricing mechanisms that provide a degree of protection from
pricing volatility.
B.
Foreign exchange risk
The relationship between the Canadian and US dollar affects financial results of the uranium business as well as the fuel
services business. Sales of uranium product, conversion and fuel manufacturing services are routinely denominated in US
dollars while production costs are largely denominated in Canadian dollars.
Cameco attempts to provide some protection against exchange rate fluctuations by planned hedging activity designed to
smooth volatility. To
mitigate risks associated with foreign currency, Cameco enters into forward sales and option contracts to
establish a price for future delivery of the foreign currency. These foreign currency contracts are not designated as hedges and
are recorded at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in earnings. Cameco also has a natural hedge against US
currency fluctuations because a portion of its annual cash outlays, including purchases of uranium and conversion services, is
denominated in US dollars.
Cameco holds a number of financial instruments denominated in foreign currencies that expose the Company to foreign
exchange risk. Cameco measures its exposure to foreign exchange risk on financial instruments as the change in carrying
values that would occur as a result of reasonably possible changes in foreign exchange rates, holding all other variables
constant. As of the reporting date, the Company has determined its pre-tax exposure to foreign currency exchange risk on
financial instruments to be as follows based on a
5
% weakening of the Canadian dollar:
Carrying value
Currency
(Cdn)
Gain (loss)
Cash and cash equivalents
USD
$
207,370
$
10,368
Accounts receivable
USD
317,839
15,892
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities
USD
(501,457)
(25,073)
Net foreign currency derivatives
USD
3,922
(153,023)
C.
Interest rate risk
The Company has a strategy of minimizing its exposure to interest rate risk by maintaining target levels of fixed and variable
rate borrowings. The proportions of outstanding debt carrying fixed and variable interest rates are reviewed by senior
management to ensure that these levels are within approved policy limits. At December 31, 2025, the proportion of Cameco’s
outstanding debt that carries fixed interest rates is
92
% (2024 -
72
%).
Cameco was exposed to interest rate risk during the year through its interest rate swap contracts whereby fixed rate payments
on a notional amount of $
75,000,000
of the Series H senior unsecured debentures were swapped for variable rate payments.
Under the terms of the swap, Cameco makes interest payments based on
the daily Canada Overnight Repo Rate Average
plus an average margin of
1.3
% and receives fixed interest payments of
2.95
%. At December 31, 2025, the fair value of
Cameco’s interest rate swap net liability was $
1,677,000
(2024 - $
3,172,000
).
Cameco measures its exposure to interest rate risk as the change in cash flows that would occur as a result of reasonably
possible changes in interest rates, holding all other variables constant. As of the reporting date, the Company has determined
the impact on earnings of a
1
% increase in interest rate on its interest rate contracts to be a loss of $
757,000
.
Counterparty credit risk
Counterparty credit risk is associated with the ability of counterparties to satisfy their contractual obligations to Cameco,
including both payment and performance. The maximum exposure to credit risk, as represented by the carrying amount of the
financial assets, at December 31 was:
2025
2024
Cash and cash equivalents
$
1,114,860
$
600,462
Short-term investments
99,603
-
Accounts receivable [note 6]
343,974
318,126
Derivative assets [note 10]
21,166
103
Cash and cash equivalents
Cameco held cash and cash equivalents of $
1,114,860,000
at December 31, 2025 (2024 - $
600,462,000
). Cameco mitigates
its credit risk by ensuring that balances are held with counterparties with high credit ratings. The Company monitors the credit
rating of its counterparties on a monthly basis and has controls in place to ensure prescribed exposure limits with each
counterparty are adhered to.
Impairment on cash and cash equivalents has been measured on a 12-month ECL basis and reflects the short maturities of
the exposures. The Company considers that its cash and cash equivalents have low credit risk based on the external credit
ratings of the counterparties. Cameco has assessed its counterparty credit risk on cash and cash equivalents by applying
historic global default rates to outstanding cash balances based on S&P rating. The conclusion of this assessment is that the
loss allowance is insignificant.
Short-term investments
Cameco held short-term investments of $
99,603,000
at December 31, 2025 (2024 - $
0
). The Company mitigates its credit risk
by requiring that the issuer/guarantor of the investment have a minimum short-term credit rating and/or a long-term debt rating
at the time of purchase, according to the investment credit ratings as issued by DBRS or S&P,
or the equivalent of the DBRS
or S&P rating at another reputable rating agency.
In addition to the credit-rating requirement, Cameco also mitigates risk by prescribing limits by counterparty and types of
investment products.
Cameco has assessed its counterparty credit risk related to short-term investments by applying historic default rates to
outstanding investment balances based on S&P rating. The conclusion of this assessment is that the loss allowance is
insignificant.
Accounts receivable
Cameco’s sales of uranium product, conversion and fuel manufacturing services expose the Company to the risk of non-
payment. Cameco manages the risk of non-payment by monitoring the credit-worthiness of its customers and seeking pre-
payment or other forms of payment security from customers with an unacceptable level of credit risk.
A summary of the Company’s exposure to credit risk for trade receivables is as follows:
Carrying
value
Investment grade credit rating
$
318,933
Non-investment grade credit rating
19,493
Total gross carrying amount
$
338,426
Loss allowance
-
Net
$
338,426
As customers are relatively few in number, accounts receivable from any individual customer may periodically exceed 10% of
accounts receivable depending on deliveries. At December 31, 2025, all customers exceeding 10% of accounts receivable had
an investment grade credit rating and balances were current.
No
amounts were held as collateral. Historically, Cameco has
experienced minimal customer defaults and, as a result, considers the credit quality of its accounts receivable to be high.
Cameco uses customer credit rating data, historic default rates and aged receivable analysis to measure the ECLs of trade
receivables from corporate customers, which comprise a small number of large balances. Since the Company has not
experienced customer defaults in the past, applying historic default rates in calculating ECLs, as well as considering forward-
looking information, resulted in an insignificant allowance for losses.
The following table provides information about Cameco’s aged trade receivables as at December 31, 2025:
Corporate
Other
customers
customers
Total
Current (not past due)
$
336,369
$
1,015
337,384
1-30 days past due
-
32
32
More than 30 days past due
-
1,010
1,010
Total
$
336,369
$
2,057
338,426
Liquidity risk
Financial liquidity represents Cameco’s ability to fund future operating activities and investments. Cameco ensures that there
is sufficient capital in order to meet short-term business requirements, after taking into account cash flows from operations and
the Company’s holdings of cash and cash equivalents. The Company believes that these sources will be sufficient to cover the
likely short-term and long-term cash requirements.
The table below outlines the Company’s available debt facilities at December 31, 2025:
Outstanding and
Total amount
committed
Amount available
Unsecured revolving credit facility [note 13]
$
1,000,000
$
-
$
1,000,000
Letter of credit facilities [note 13]
1,793,917
1,529,574
264,343
The tables below present a maturity analysis of Cameco’s financial liabilities, including principal and interest, based on the
expected cash flows from the reporting date to the contractual maturity date:
Due in
Carrying
Contractual
less than
Due in 1-3
Due in 3-5
Due after 5
amount
cash flows
1 year
years
years
years
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities
$
871,355
$
871,355
$
871,355
$
-
$
-
$
-
Long-term debt
996,348
1,000,000
-
400,000
-
600,000
Foreign currency contracts
17,244
17,244
11,589
5,655
-
-
Interest rate contracts
1,677
1,677
756
921
-
-
Lease obligation [note 14]
14,933
17,914
3,339
5,293
2,950
6,332
Total contractual repayments
$
1,901,557
$
1,908,190
$
887,039
$
411,869
$
2,950
$
606,332
Due in
less than
Due in 1-3
Due in 3-5
Due after 5
Total
1 year
years
years
years
Total interest payments on long-term debt
$
245,980
$
41,590
$
71,380
$
59,580
$
73,430
Measurement of fair values
A.
Accounting classifications and fair values
The following tables summarize the carrying amounts and accounting classifications of Cameco’s financial instruments at the
reporting date:
At December 31, 2025
FVTPL
Amortized
cost
Total
Financial assets
Cash and cash equivalents
$
-
$
1,114,860
$
1,114,860
Short-term investments
-
99,603
99,603
Accounts receivable [note 6]
-
360,312
360,312
Derivative assets [note 10]
Foreign currency contracts
21,166
-
21,166
$
21,166
$
1,574,775
$
1,595,941
Financial liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities [note 12]
$
-
$
871,355
$
871,355
Lease obligation [note 14]
-
14,933
14,933
Derivative liabilities [note 14]
Foreign currency contracts
17,244
-
17,244
Interest rate contracts
1,677
-
1,677
Long-term debt [note 13]
-
996,348
996,348
18,921
1,882,636
1,901,557
Net
$
2,245
$
(307,861)
$
(305,616)
At December 31, 2024
FVTPL
Amortized
cost
Total
Financial assets
Cash and cash equivalents
$
-
$
600,462
$
600,462
Accounts receivable [note 6]
-
346,800
346,800
Derivative assets [note 10]
Foreign currency contracts
103
-
103
$
103
$
947,262
$
947,365
Financial liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities [note 12]
$
-
$
619,035
$
619,035
Current portion of long-term debt [note 13]
-
285,707
285,707
Lease obligation [note 14]
-
9,839
9,839
Derivative liabilities [note 14]
Foreign currency contracts
140,437
-
140,437
Interest rate contracts
3,172
-
3,172
Long-term debt [note 13]
-
995,583
995,583
143,609
1,910,164
2,053,773
Net
$
(143,506)
$
(962,902)
$
(1,106,408)
Cameco has pledged $
295,573,000
of cash as security against certain of its letter of credit facilities. This cash is being used
as collateral for an interest rate reduction on the letter of credit facilities. The collateral account has a term of
five years
effective November 1, 2023. Cameco retains full access to this cash.
Cameco has not irrevocably designated a financial asset that would otherwise meet the requirements to be measured at
amortized cost at FVOCI or FVTPL to eliminate or significantly reduce an accounting mismatch that would otherwise arise.
The following tables summarize the carrying amounts and level 2 fair value measurements of Cameco’s financial instruments:
As at December 31, 2025
Carrying value
Fair value
Derivative assets [note 10]
Foreign currency contracts
$
21,166
$
21,166
Derivative liabilities [note 14]
Foreign currency contracts
(17,244)
(17,244)
Interest rate contracts
(1,677)
(1,677)
Long-term debt [note 13]
(996,348)
(1,046,819)
Net
$
(994,103)
$
(1,044,574)
As at December 31, 2024
Carrying value
Fair value
Derivative assets [note 10]
Foreign currency contracts
$
103
$
103
Current portion of long-term debt [note 13]
(285,707)
(285,707)
Derivative liabilities [note 14]
Foreign currency contracts
(140,437)
(140,437)
Interest rate contracts
(3,172)
(3,172)
Long-term debt [note 13]
(995,583)
(1,058,055)
Net
$
(1,424,796)
$
(1,487,268)
The preceding tables exclude fair value information for financial instruments whose carrying amounts are a reasonable
approximation of fair value. The carrying values of Cameco’s cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, accounts
receivable, and accounts payable and accrued liabilities approximate their fair values as a result of the short-term nature of the
instruments.
There were
no
transfers between level 1 and level 2 during the period. Cameco does not have any financial instruments that
are classified as level 1 or level 3 as of the reporting date.
B.
Financial instruments measured at fair value
Cameco measures its derivative financial instruments at fair value which is classified as a recurring level 2 fair value
measurement.
Cameco’s long-term debt is carried at amortized cost. The fair value is measured for disclosure purposes and determined
using quoted market yields as of the reporting date, which ranged from
2.5
% to
3.7
% (2024 -
2.8
% to
3.3
%). Long-term debt is
classified as a recurring level 2 fair value measurement.
Cameco’s short-term investments consist of fixed term deposits and bankers discount notes with interest rates ranging from
2.3
% to
2.5
%. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, the fair value of these investments has been determined to
approximate the carrying value.
Foreign currency derivatives consist of foreign currency forward contracts, options and swaps. The fair value of foreign
currency options is measured based on the Black Scholes option-pricing model. The fair value of foreign currency forward
contracts and swaps is measured using a market approach, based on the difference between contracted foreign exchange
rates and quoted forward exchange rates as of the reporting date.
Interest rate derivatives consist of interest rate swap contracts. The fair value of interest rate swaps is determined by
discounting expected future cash flows from the contracts. The future cash flows are determined by measuring the difference
between fixed interest payments to be received and floating interest payments to be made to the counterparty based on
Canada Overnight Repo Rate Average forward interest rate curves.
Where applicable, the fair value of the derivatives reflects the credit risk of the instrument and includes adjustments to take
into account the credit risk of the Company and counterparty. These adjustments are based on credit ratings and yield curves
observed in active markets at the reporting date.
Derivatives
The following table summarizes the fair value of derivatives and classification on the consolidated statements of financial
position:
2025
2024
Non-hedge derivatives:
Foreign currency contracts
$
3,922
$
(140,334)
Interest rate contracts
(1,677)
(3,172)
Net
$
2,245
$
(143,506)
Classification:
Current portion of long-term receivables, investments and other [note 10]
$
8,933
$
68
Long-term receivables, investments and other [note 10]
12,233
35
Current portion of other liabilities [note 14]
(12,345)
(83,890)
Other liabilities [note 14]
(6,576)
(59,719)
Net
$
2,245
$
(143,506)
The following table summarizes the different components of the gains (losses) on derivatives included in net earnings:
2025
2024
Non-hedge derivatives:
Foreign currency contracts
$
94,838
$
(182,988)
Interest rate contracts
179
(115)
Net
$
95,017
$
(183,103)