Exhibit 99.01
News
[Southern Company Logo]
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
July 28, 2004
Southern Company second quarter earnings meet expectations
ATLANTA - Southern Company today said its second quarter earnings were $352
million, or 48 cents per share, in line with analysts' expectations. The results
compared with earnings - excluding a one-time gain in 2003 - of $349 million, or
49 cents per share, in the second quarter a year ago.
The 2003 results included a one-time after-tax gain of $88 million related to
the termination of all long-term wholesale power contracts with Dynegy, Inc.
After adjusting for revenues that would have been recognized in 2003 had the
contracts remained in place, the adjusted gain for 2003 was $83 million, or 11
cents per share. Including the impact of the Dynegy settlement, reported
earnings for the second quarter of 2003 were $432 million, or 60 cents per
share.
Earnings for the first six months of this year were $683 million, or 93 cents
per share, compared with earnings - excluding the gain from ending the Dynegy
contracts - of $647 million, or 90 cents per share, in the same period a year
ago. Including the gain from the Dynegy settlement, earnings for the first six
months of 2003 were $730 million, or $1.01 per share.
Warmer weather in the second quarter, compared with last year, helped boost
demand for electricity and contributed positively to earnings. Temperatures in
this year's second quarter were slightly above normal, while mild weather in the
second quarter last year had reduced demand by retail customers.
Continued customer growth of 1.8 percent also contributed positively to second
quarter earnings. Southern Company served 4.2 million customers as of June 30,
compared with 4.1 million a year ago.
These positive earnings drivers were offset in part by increased expenses. These
related primarily to the timing of operations and maintenance costs, as some
maintenance projects, not completed in 2003 and earlier this year, were
performed in the second quarter of 2004.
"Our businesses continued to perform well overall in the second quarter, giving
us solid results and keeping the company on track to deliver on our financial
and operational goals for the year," said David M. Ratcliffe, chairman,
president and chief executive officer.
"We remain committed to the strategy that has rewarded investors and provided
our customers reliable, affordable energy with outstanding service," Ratcliffe
added, noting that during the second quarter it was announced that Southern
Company had, for the fifth straight year, been rated highest in customer
satisfaction in the American Customer Satisfaction Index survey of residential
customers representing 29 U.S. utilities.
Second quarter revenues were $3.01 billion, compared with $2.82 billion in the
same period a year ago. Revenues for the first six months of this year were
$5.74 billion, compared with $5.36 billion in the first half of 2003.
Kilowatt-hour sales to retail customers in Southern Company's four-state service
area increased 5.3 percent in the second quarter, compared with the same period
in 2003. Residential electricity use increased 8.5 percent. Electricity use by
commercial customers -- offices, stores and other non-manufacturing firms -
increased 5.1 percent. Industrial energy use increased 3.0 percent.
Total sales of electricity to Southern Company's customers in the Southeast,
including wholesale sales, increased 4.6 percent, compared with the second
quarter last year.
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 July 28 at
www.southerncompany.com.
Southern Company's financial analyst call will be at 1 p.m. EDT July 28, at
which time Ratcliffe and Chief Financial Officer Tom Fanning will discuss
earnings and earnings guidance as well as 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 more than 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 three 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 five years in a
row. 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, Southern Company's ability to achieve financial and
operational targets for 2004 and the company's strategies. 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, 2003, 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, tax 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, regulatory investigations, proceedings or inquiries, including the
pending EPA civil actions against certain Southern Company subsidiaries and
current IRS audits; the effects, extent and timing of the entry 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;
available sources and costs of fuels; ability to control costs; investment
performance of Southern Company's employee benefit plans; advances in
technology; state and federal rate regulations and pending and future rate cases
and negotiations; effects of, and changes in, political, legal and economic
conditions and developments in the United States, including the current state of
the economy; 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 ability to obtain new
short- and long-term contracts with neighboring utilities; the direct or
indirect effect on Southern Company's business resulting from the terrorist
incidents on Sept. 11, 2001, or any similar incidents or responses to such
incidents; financial market conditions and the results of financing efforts,
including Southern Company's and its subsidiaries' credit ratings; the ability
of Southern Company and its subsidiaries to obtain additional generating
capacity at competitive prices; weather and other natural phenomena; the direct
and indirect effects on Southern Company's business resulting from incidents
similar to the August 2003 power outage in the Northeast; and the effect of
accounting pronouncements issued periodically by standard-setting bodies.
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