ATLANTA – With hot weather driving increased demand for electricity during the peak summer months, Southern Company’s third quarter earnings were $595 million, or 84 cents per share, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Allen Franklin said today.
The third quarter results compared with reported earnings of $554 million, or 80 cents per share, in the third quarter a year ago, a 5 percent increase in earnings per share.
“The return of more seasonal weather this summer and the continued focus on executing our strategy were the keys to our strong financial performance in the third quarter,” said Franklin. “We are on track to keep our promise of meeting or exceeding our full-year targets for earnings, operations and customer service.”
Southern Company’s third quarter performance, which exceeded analysts’ expectations, also benefited from continued customer growth, solid results from the competitive generation business and the overall impact of rate proceedings in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. These factors offset the negative impact on earnings from higher operating expenses related to new generating units that have come on line in the past year, start-up costs at Southern Company Gas, the impact on the energy services business from the manufacturing industry’s downturn and the effect of additional shares outstanding.
For the first nine months of this year, Southern Company earned $1.15 billion, or $1.63 per share, compared with $1.00 billion, or $1.46 per share in the same period a year ago.
Revenues for the third quarter were $3.25 billion, compared with $3.16 billion in the same period a year earlier. Nine-month revenues were $8.09 billion, compared with $8.00 billion in the same period of 2001.
Reviewing operations, Franklin said electricity use by retail customers in Southern Company`s four-state service area increased 3.4 percent in the first nine months of 2002. In-home electricity needs were up 6.8 percent. Electricity use by commercial customers -- offices, stores and other non-manufacturing firms – increased 2.7 percent. Industrial energy use increased 0.9 percent.
Total sales of electricity to Southern Company`s customers in the Southeast, including sales to other utilities, increased 2.8 percent.
In conjunction with this earnings announcement, Southern Company has posted on its Web site a package of detailed financial information on its third quarter performance. These materials are available at 7:30 a.m. EST Oct. 30 at www.southerncompany.com.
Southern Company`s financial analyst call will be at 1 p.m. EST Oct. 30, at which time Franklin and Chief Financial Officer Gale Klappa will discuss earnings, earnings guidance and provide a general business update. Investors, media and the public may listen to a live Webcast of the call at www.southerncompany.com. A replay of the Webcast will be available at the site for 10 days.
With 4 million customers and nearly 37,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier super-regional energy company in the Southeast and a leading U.S. producer of electricity. Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states, a fast-growing competitive generation company, an energy services business and a competitive retail natural gas business, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are 15 percent below the national average. Southern Company has been named No. 1 on Fortune magazine’s 2002 “America’s Most Admired Companies” list in the Electric and Gas Utility industry. Southern Company has more than 500,000 shareholders, making its common stock one of the most widely held in the United States. Visit the Southern Company Web site at www.southerncompany.com.
Forward Looking Statements Note:
Certain information contained in this release is forward-looking information based on current expectations and plans that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements concerning Southern Company’s confidence that it can meet or exceed its financial, operational and customer service targets for the year. Southern Company cautions that there are certain factors that can cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information that has been provided. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is not a guarantee of future performance and is subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of Southern Company; accordingly, there can be no assurance that such indicated results will be realized.
The following factors, in addition to those discussed in Southern Company`s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001, and subsequent securities filings, could cause results to differ materially from management expectations as suggested by such forward-looking information: the impact of recent and future federal and state regulatory change, including legislative and regulatory initiatives regarding deregulation and restructuring of the electric utility industry and also changes in environmental and other laws and regulations to which Southern Company and its subsidiaries are subject, as well as changes in application of existing laws and regulations; current and future litigation, including the EPA civil action against certain subsidiaries of Southern Company and the diversity litigation against certain subsidiaries of Southern Company; the effects, extent and timing of additional competition in the markets in which Southern Company`s subsidiaries operate; the impact of fluctuations in commodity prices, interest rates and customer demand; state and federal rate regulation in the United States; political and legal conditions and developments in the United States; the performance of projects undertaken by the non-traditional business and the success of efforts to invest in and develop new opportunities; internal restructuring or other restructuring options that may be pursued; potential business strategies, including acquisitions or dispositions of assets or businesses, which cannot be assured to be completed or beneficial to Southern Company or its subsidiaries; the effects of, and changes in, economic conditions in the areas in which Southern Company`s subsidiaries operate, including the current soft economy; the direct or indirect effects on Southern Company’s business resulting from the terrorist incidents on Sept. 11, 2001, or any similar such incidents or responses to such incidents; financial market conditions and the results of financing efforts; the timing and acceptance of Southern Company`s new product and service offerings; the ability of Southern Company to obtain additional generating capacity at competitive prices; and weather and other natural phenomena.
# # #