French fuel cycle company Orano reported revenue of €4.8bn in 2023, up 13.1% on a like-for-like basis, supported by rising market prices and increased front-end and back-end activity. EBITDA was €1.2bn compared with €1bn the previous year.
Order intake amounted to €9bn, of which 68% was outside France. “This performance confirms Orano’s good positioning in its markets with the renewal or signature of new multi-year long-term contracts in Mining and Front End, particularly following the contribution of additional production capacity in enrichment.” As a result, Orano's backlog increased to €30.8bn at the end of 2023 (compared with €26.1bn at the end of 2022). At the end of 2023, the backlog represented nearly 6.5 years of revenue.
The share of revenue from export customers reached 49.7% in 2023 compared with 46% in 2022. Mining Sector revenue was €1.3bn, a decrease of 1.8% compared with 2022. Front End revenue stood at €1.3bn, up 17.5% on 2022. Back End revenue, which includes the Recycling, Nuclear Packaging & Services, Dismantling & Services activities, as well as Projects, totalled €2.1bn, up 21.1% compared with 2022.
Commenting on the results, CEO Nicolas Maes said: “Orano has put itself in working order to support the new nuclear energy prospects and meet the climate and sovereignty challenges. The decision to increase our enrichment production capacity is a concrete illustration of this, and foreshadows other development projects in our nuclear base, and our new activities in nuclear medicine and the battery value chain. Therefore, 2024 marks the start of a new cycle of development and investment in areas that are more essential and meaningful than ever.”
For 2024 Orano projects stable revenue at around €4.8bn; an EBITDA margin on revenue between 22% and 24%, including increased support for the development of new activities; positive net cash flow while ensuring the ramp-up of the investment programme.
