Paladin shares lower on weaker sales revenue

Shares in uranium miner Paladin Energy have slumped on the back of weaker sales revenue for the September quarter.

Paladin recorded sales revenue of $US69.2 million for the quarter, well down on the $US107.4 million it achieved in the June quarter.

This was driven in part by a softening in the average uranium price for the period and a longer than expected maintenance shutdown at the miner's Kayelekera mine in Malawi, at which activity came to a halt for most of August.

Paladin sold 1.6 million pounds of uranium oxide at an average price of $US41.38 per pound compared to the previous quarter, in which sales of 2.3 million pounds were made at an average price of $US46.22 per pound. 

There was some good news at Paladin's Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia, however, where production was 4 per cent above budget at a record 1.4 million pounds.

Paladin announced earlier this month that it planned to slash its costs by $US23 million over the 2014 financial year and suspend all non-essential exploration activity as it looks to stem losses from a weakening uranium price.

The miner said that it would make further staff cuts at its Kayelekera mine and slash board and management base salaries by 10 per cent, following a comprehensive review of its activities.

It also plans to reduce cash costs at the flagship Langer Heinrich mine by 15 per cent over two years and at Kayelekera by around 22 per cent over the same period.

At 12:00PM WST, Paladin shares were down 4.6 per cent to 41.5 cents.