“Increased demand for electricity due in part to an unusually hot summer caused our earnings to rise in the third quarter,” Southern Company Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer A.W. Dahlberg said today.

The Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the parent firm of five electric utilities: Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power, and Savannah Electric. The Southern Company`s common stock is one of the 20 most widely held corporate stocks in America.

Dahlberg announced that earnings for the three months ending Sept. 30, 1995, were $469 million or 71 cents a share, compared with $416 million or 64 cents a share for the same period in 1994. Revenues for the same period were $2.8 billion, compared with $2.4 billion in 1994.

Earnings for the nine months ending Sept. 30, 1995, were $943 million or $1.42 a share, compared with $814 million or $1.25 per share for the same period in 1994. Revenues for the same period were $6.9 billion, compared with $6.4 billion in 1994.

Earnings for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 1995, were $1.1 billion or $1.69 a share, compared with $946 million or $1.46 a share for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 1994. Revenues for the same period were $8.8 billion, compared with $8.3 billion.

Earnings for the nine months and 12 months ending Sept. 30, 1994, were affected by a $60 million after-tax charge or 9 cents a share for work force reduction programs at Georgia Power and Southern Company Services.

The Southern Company in October completed its acquisition of South Western Electricity plc (SWEB), one of the United Kingdom’s 12 regional electric distribution companies. Earnings for the periods ending Sept. 30, 1995, do not reflect income from SWEB, but do reflect The Southern Company’s interest payments on debt financing.

Reviewing operations, Dahlberg said electricity use by retail customers in The Southern Company`s service area increased 5.3 percent to 98 billion kilowatt-hours during the first nine months of 1995, compared with the same period in 1994. In-home electricity needs were up 8.4 percent to 31 billion kilowatt-hours. Electricity consumption by commercial customers — offices, stores, and other non-manufacturing firms — gained 5.4 percent to 28 billion kilowatt-hours. Industrial energy use increased 3.0 percent to 39 billion kilowatt-hours.

Total sales of electricity to customers of The Southern Company — including sales to other utilities — were up 4.5 percent to 113 billion kilowatt-hours for the first three quarters of 1995, compared with the same period in 1994.