Exhibit 99.01
News
[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
Oct. 21, 2004
Southern Company third quarter earnings meet expectations as increased
industrial sales, customer growth continue
ATLANTA - Southern Company today said its third quarter earnings were $644.5
million, or 87 cents per share, meeting expectations. The results compared with
earnings of $618.8 million, or 85 cents per share, in the third quarter a year
ago.
Earnings for the first nine months of 2004 were $1.33 billion, or $1.80 per
share. The nine-month results compared with earnings - excluding a one-time gain
in 2003 - of $1.27 billion, or $1.75 per share in the same period a year ago.
The results for the first nine months of 2003 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 first nine months of 2003 were $1.35
billion, or $1.86 per share.
The solid earnings in the third quarter were achieved despite mild weather in
the Southeast and extensive infrastructure damage, especially in northwest
Florida and southwest Alabama, caused in September by Hurricane Ivan, the most
destructive storm in the company's history.
At its peak, Ivan left 1.6 million customers - nearly 40 percent of Southern
Company's total customer base - without power. However, electric service was
restored within a week to 94 percent of customers, and within two weeks to all
customers who were able to accept power.
"Superior performance by Southern Company people and their commitment to serving
customers were on full display as we dealt with this terrible storm," said David
M. Ratcliffe, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "From getting
workers on site to securing huge amounts of equipment, our ability to respond
quickly and efficiently helped millions of people cope with the storm's
devastation and also helped minimize the financial impact on the company."
The third quarter saw mild weather across Southern Company's four-state service
area, including the second-coolest August temperatures in 25 years. The impact
on earnings from the cooler-than-normal summer weather was offset in part by
increased energy use in the industrial sector, reflecting ongoing economic
progress - most notably in the automotive, steel and chemical industries in
Alabama - that began late last year and continued in the third quarter.
Another primary factor contributing positively to earnings was continued
customer growth. Southern Company served about 70,000 more customers as of Sept.
30 than it did at the same time a year earlier, an increase of 1.7 percent.
"By successfully executing our conservative strategy centered on long-term
performance, we continued to deliver solid results in the third quarter,"
Ratcliffe said.
Third quarter revenues were $3.44 billion, compared with $3.30 billion in the
same period a year ago, an increase of 4.2 percent. Revenues for the first nine
months of this year were $9.18 billion, compared with $8.67 billion in the same
period of 2003, an increase of 6.0 percent.
Kilowatt-hour sales to retail customers in Southern Company's four-state service
area increased 0.8 percent in the third quarter, compared with the same period
in 2003. Residential electricity use declined 0.9 percent. Electricity use by
commercial customers -- offices, stores and other non-manufacturing firms -
increased 0.8 percent. Industrial energy use increased 2.7 percent.
Total sales of electricity to Southern Company's customers in the Southeast,
including wholesale sales, decreased 2.7 percent, compared with the third
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 third quarter
performance. These materials are available at www.southerncompany.com.
Southern Company's financial analyst call will be at 1 p.m. EDT Oct. 21, at
which time 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 and Southern 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.
###