(7) Earnings for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2016 include the earnings of Southern Company Gas since July 1, 2016 (the date of acquisition), as well as debt financing costs related to the acquisition. Earnings of Southern Company Gas since September 1, 2016 include amounts related to its acquisition of a 50% ownership interest in SNG. In addition, earnings per share for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2016 include the impact of 22.3 million shares ($1.1 billion) of common stock issued in August 2016 to finance a portion of the purchase price for the SNG acquisition.
The timing of completion of the acquisition of Southern Company Gas was uncertain at the time Southern Company issued earnings per share guidance in February 2016, and Southern Company's agreement to acquire a 50% interest in SNG did not occur until July 2016. Accordingly, Southern Company's February 2016 guidance did not reflect any earnings contribution from these acquisitions or the financing costs related to the acquisitions. As a result, Southern Company believes presentation of earnings per share excluding these items provides investors with information comparable to the February guidance. Management also used such measures to evaluate Southern Company's performance in 2016.
In addition to earnings and earnings per share calculated in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Southern Company intends to continue to present earnings and earnings per share excluding the impact of the Wholesale Gas Services business of Southern Company Gas in future periods. Presenting earnings and earnings per share excluding Wholesale Gas Services provides investors with an additional measure of operating performance that excludes the volatility that results from mark-to-market and lower of weighted average cost or current market price accounting adjustments. Management also expects to use earnings and earnings per share excluding Wholesale Gas Services to evaluate Southern Company's performance. For the three months ended December 31, 2016, pre-tax earnings from Wholesale Gas Services and the related tax impact were $15.1 million and $3.8 million, respectively. For the six months ended December 31, 2016, the pre-tax loss from Wholesale Gas Services and the related tax benefit were $3.7 million and $3.5 million, respectively. |