Cameco Reports Third Quarter Earnings

Market Wire, November, 2008

ALL AMOUNTS ARE STATED IN CDN $ (UNLESS NOTED)

Cameco Corporation (TSX: CCO) (NYSE: CCJ) today reported third quarter 2008 adjusted net earnings(1) of $142 million ($0.41 per share adjusted and diluted), 46% lower than in the third quarter of 2007. This was due to lower earnings in the uranium business, partially offset by improved results in the electricity and gold businesses. In our uranium business, lower realized prices and higher unit costs adversely affected uranium profits. In our electricity and gold businesses, higher realized prices led to stronger results in those segments.

Adjusted net earnings(1) for the first nine months of 2008 were 19% lower than in 2007 due to lower earnings in the uranium and fuel services businesses partially offset by higher earnings in the gold business. Results in the uranium business have been impacted by higher costs and lower production while fuel services was adversely impacted by the shutdown of the UF6 plant at Port Hope.

Recent uncertainty in world financial markets has affected companies around the globe, including Cameco. The capital market for debt, for Cameco and most other companies, has effectively shut down. In response, the company is re-examining its expenditures during the current budget planning process.

"However, unlike most companies, we have exceptionally reliable revenue streams," said Jerry Grandey, Cameco's president and CEO.

"Cameco is blessed with high quality customers whose requirements for uranium are independent of the state of the global economy. Since nuclear is among the lowest cost generators of electricity our customers will continue to operate their plants to meet baseload electricity requirements," Grandey added.

Cameco has built a uranium contract portfolio that we expect will provide a solid revenue stream for years to come. However, the timing of Cameco's cash receipts does not necessarily coincide with the timing of disbursements. Therefore, we rely on short-term debt, predominately to fund these fluctuations in working capital. We also use short-term debt to provide flexibility for funding longer-term requirements until the balance accumulates to a level that warrants refinancing.

(1) Net earnings for the quarters and nine months ended September 30, 2007 and 2008 have been adjusted to exclude a number of items. Adjusted net earnings is a non-GAAP measure. For a description see "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" in this document.

We continue to monitor the market and will carefully assess conditions prior to making any decisions. In the interim, we have sufficient borrowing capacity to meet our current requirements.

During this period of uncertainty, Cameco will proceed in a prudent manner. Growth will take place but at a slower and more measured pace. We will look for opportunities to reduce costs and defer projects that cannot be funded internally. Our focus in making these decisions will be to ensure the safety of our people and the environment and to protect production levels over the next several years.

Note: All dollar amounts are expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. Cameco's unaudited third quarter financial statements and management's discussion and analysis are available on our company's website cameco.com, on SEDAR at sedar.com and on EDGAR at sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

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                             Three months ended  Nine months ended    Yr/Yr
                                   September 30       September 30   Change
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Financial Highlights              2008     2007      2008     2007        %
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Revenue ($ millions)               729      681     1,941    1,816        7
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Net earnings ($ millions)          135       91       419      355       18
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Earnings per share (EPS) -
 basic ($)                        0.39     0.26      1.22     1.00       22
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EPS - diluted ($)                 0.39     0.25      1.21     0.96       26
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Adjusted net earnings
 ($ millions)(1)                   142      263       437      537      (19)
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EPS - adjusted and diluted ($)(1) 0.41     0.70      1.26     1.44      (13)
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Cash provided by operations (2)
 ($ millions)                      109      450       368      744      (51)
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(1) Net earnings for the quarters and nine months ended September 30, 2007
    and 2008 have been adjusted to exclude a number of items. Adjusted net
    earnings is a non-GAAP measure. For a description see "Use of Non-GAAP
    Financial Measures" in this document.
(2) After working capital changes - refer to note 16 of the third quarter
    unaudited consolidated financial statements.