Earnings rose at Centrus Energy, Bethesda, Md., in the second quarter, which the uranium broker and enrichment technology developer attributed to the timing and mix of nuclear fuel sales and continued progress on its uranium enrichment expansion.
Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were approximately $16.8 million, or about $0.85 a share, down from $28.9 million, or $1.59 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue was approximately $176.1 million, up from $154.5 million a year ago.
Centrus operates through two segments: Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU), which includes sales of separative work units and uranium to commercial nuclear utilities, and Technical Solutions, which includes the company’s high-assay low-enriched uranium work for the Department of Energy as well as advanced manufacturing, engineering and technical services.
Quarterly segment revenue for LEU was $153.4 million, up from $125.7 million a year ago. Revenue for Technical Solutions was $22.7 million, down from $27.7 million in the year-ago period.
“Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on our mission of restoring America’s nuclear fuel supply chain and are encouraged by the continued strong trends in the broader macro environment that are supporting global nuclear power development,” Amir Vexler, Centrus’ president and CEO, said on a conference call with investors.
The company said it has been ramping up spending on a major effort to restore U.S. uranium-enrichment capacity, including a planned expansion at its American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, and a centrifuge manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn., which Vexler said would complete its first centrifuge “sometime in 2026.” Centrus has said its initial build-out is intended to address a commercial LEU enrichment backlog as well as planned high-assay, low enriched uranium (HALEU) production.
The company is pursuing a $900 million Department of Energy HALEU enrichment award announced in January, with the contract potentially exceeding $1 billion once negotiations are completed. Centrus also has said it is responding to a National Nuclear Security Administration procurement for additional domestic enrichment capacity, although the company has declined to discuss details while the procurement remains underway.
Centrus is the only U.S.-owned uranium enrichment company with operating American centrifuge technology. Its American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, is producing HALEU under a DOE contract, while the company is developing additional enrichment and centrifuge manufacturing capacity to serve commercial nuclear utilities, advanced reactor developers and potential national security customers.