Over half of the companies within the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) are in the red today, and one ASX uranium share is taking the cake.
The top 300 index is down 0.4% to 7,971 points in afternoon trade. Leading the race for the wooden spoon is none other than Silex Systems Ltd (ASX: SLX). At the time of writing, shares in the uranium enrichment technology company are down 12% to $3.95.
Selling pressure on Silex is mounting today after the company posted its FY24 full-year result.
Widening losses pull down this ASX uranium share
Unlike many other companies reporting this earnings season, Silex Systems is far from an established business. At this stage, Silex is still working on commercializing its laser-based enrichment technology, which means investors will assess it differently.
What is most important during this stage is development progress and available funding. With that said, here are a few of the company's headline figures from FY24:
- Receipts from customers and government grants up 136% to $19.5 million
- Revenue up 39.8% year-on-year to $12.9 million
- Net loss after tax deepening from $17.4 million to $22.7 million
- Cash and cash equivalents down 18.1% to $113.1 million, and no debt
What else happened in FY24?
Silex worked with Cameco through its global laser enrichment (GLE) joint venture to further improve its enrichment technologies. This entailed the construction and commissioning of full-scale pilot equipment. The joint venture plans to use this platform to demonstrate the company's technology before 2024 is over.
Likewise, Silex continued the design and construction of a quantum silicon production plant at Lucas Heights in New South Wales. The Federal Government provided a $5.1 million grant to assist with the development under the Defence Trailblazer program. In addition, Silex's offtake partner, Silicon Quantum Computing, also chipped in $4.35 million.
Today's report emphasised the tailwind provided by government legislation to the sector. For example, Silex highlighted the United States' move to pass the Nuclear Fuel Security Act in December last year. Shares in the ASX uranium company began its ascension following this action, as shown in the chart below.
Silex plans to make a submission for the US Department of Energy's LEU enrichment acquisition request for proposal. As part of the initiative, the governmental department is offering up to US$2.7 billion of funding to aid domestic uranium supply.
What's next for this ASX uranium share?
No guidance was provided for FY25, which is to be expected given Silex's early stage of development.
In the near term the focus will be getting the demonstration plant operational by the end of the year. At the same time, submissions for the Department of Energy grant close on 9 September.
Despite the downturn in the Silex Systems share price, the ASX uranium company's shares are still up 20% over the past year. However, the year-to-date performance is less thrilling, at 8.5% lower.
