Exhibit 99.01
News
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Media Contact: Marc Rice
404-506-5333 or 1-866-506-5333
media@southerncompany.com
www.southerncompany.com
Investor Relations Contact:
Glen Kundert
404-506-5135
gakunder2@southernco.com
Oct. 21, 2003
Despite unusually mild summer weather,
Southern Company earnings increase in third quarter
ATLANTA - Southern Company today reported third quarter earnings of $619
million, or 85 cents per share, compared with $595 million, or 84 cents per
share, in the third quarter of 2002.
Earnings for the first nine months of 2003 -- including a one-time item reported
in the second quarter with a positive impact of 11 cents per share -- were $1.35
billion, or $1.86 per share. Earnings for the first nine months of 2002 were
$1.15 billion, or $1.63 per share.
The nine-month earnings for 2003 include a one-time after-tax gain of $88
million in the second quarter from the termination of all long-term wholesale
power contracts between Southern Company and Dynegy, Inc. After adjusting for
revenues that would have been recognized for the remainder of this year had the
contracts remained in place, the adjusted gain for 2003 is $83 million, or 11
cents per share.
CEO Allen Franklin said continued mild weather during the summer reduced third
quarter demand for electricity among retail customers. The impact on earnings
from the weather-related decline in retail sales was offset by a number of
positive factors, including the ongoing influx of people and businesses into the
Southeast. Southern Company is serving 1.6 percent more customers now than at
the end of the third quarter a year ago.
Successful efforts to control costs also contributed positively to earnings, as
did stronger results from Southern Company's competitive generation business, in
part because capacity from low-cost generation was available for sale in the
wholesale market, Franklin added.
"We remain focused on the fundamentals of running our business successfully for
the long term," Franklin said. "We're operating our generating plants at record
high levels of efficiency, continually upgrading our transmission and
distribution system so that customers get their power safely and reliably,
keeping prices low and building on our position as the industry leader in
customer satisfaction."
Third quarter revenues were $3.34 billion, compared with $3.25 billion in the
same period a year ago. Revenues for the first nine months of 2003 were $8.75
billion, compared with $8.09 billion in the first nine months of 2002.
Reviewing operations, Franklin said kilowatt-hour sales to retail customers in
Southern Company's four-state service area decreased 1.4 percent during the
third quarter, compared with the same period in 2002. In-home electricity needs,
reflecting the unusually mild weather this summer, decreased 3.2 percent.
Electricity use by commercial customers -- offices, stores and other
non-manufacturing firms - increased 0.1 percent. Industrial energy use decreased
0.8 percent.
Total sales of electricity to Southern Company's customers in the Southeast,
including wholesale sales, increased 3.4 percent in the third quarter.
In conjunction with this earnings announcement, Southern Company has posted on
its Web site a package of detailed financial information on its second quarter
performance. These materials are available at 7:30 a.m. EDT Oct. 21 at
www.southerncompany.com.
Southern Company's financial analyst call will be at 1 p.m. EDT Oct. 21, at
which time Franklin and Chief Financial Officer Tom Fanning will discuss
earnings and 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 12 months.
With 4 million customers and nearly 39,000 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 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 two consecutive years No. 1 on Fortune magazine's "America's Most
Admired Companies" list in the Electric and Gas Utility industry. Southern
Company has been ranked the nation's top energy utility in the American Customer
Satisfaction Index four years in a row, and in the latest survey tied for the
highest score among all service industry companies. 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
continued customer growth and Southern Company's ability to achieve long-term
success. 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 Dec. 31, 2002, 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; 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; 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 ability of counterparties of Southern Company
and its subsidiaries to make payments as and when due; 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.
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