Exhibit 99.01
News
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
April 26, 2005
Southern Company reports first quarter earnings
ATLANTA - Southern Company today reported first quarter earnings of $323.0
million, or 43 cents a share, compared with $331.1 million, or 45 cents a share,
in the same period a year ago.
The company said that several factors contributing positively to earnings --
including continued customer growth, sustained economic strength in the
Southeast and the overall impact of regulatory actions in Georgia that took
effect in the first quarter -- were offset in part by mild weather, which
reduced residential demand for electricity, and also by increased operations and
maintenance costs.
Chairman, President and CEO David M. Ratcliffe said the first quarter earnings,
which exceeded analysts' estimates, were boosted by the continued economic
health of the Southeast and the region's attractiveness to new residents and
businesses.
"The fundamentals of our business remain strong," Ratcliffe said. "I believe we
will meet our financial, operational and customer satisfaction targets for the
year."
Revenues for the first quarter were $2.86 billion, compared with $2.73 billion
in the same period a year ago, an increase of 4.8 percent.
Kilowatt-hour sales to retail customers in Southern Company's four-state service
area decreased 0.8 percent in the first quarter, compared with 2004. Residential
electricity use decreased 3.5 percent. Electricity use by commercial customers
- -- offices, stores and other non-manufacturing firms - increased 0.9 percent.
Industrial energy use increased 0.1 percent.
Total sales of electricity to Southern Company's customers in the Southeast,
including wholesale sales, decreased 0.6 percent in the first quarter, compared
with the previous year.
In conjunction with this earnings announcement, Southern Company has posted on
its Web site a package of detailed financial information on its first quarter
performance. These materials are available at 7:30 a.m. EDT April 26 at
www.southerncompany.com.
Southern Company's financial analyst call will be at 1 p.m. EDT April 26, at
which time Ratcliffe and Chief Financial Officer Tom Fanning will discuss
earnings and earnings guidance as well as 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 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
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
results of operations 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 suggested
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, 2004, 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, IRS
audits and Mirant-related matters; the effects, extent and timing of the entry
of additional competition in the markets in which Southern Company's
subsidiaries operate; variations in demand for electricity and gas, including
those relating to weather, the general economy and population and business
growth (and declines); 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 the impact of
pending and future rate cases and negotiations; the performance of projects
undertaken by the non-utility businesses 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 terrorist incidents and the threat of terrorist
incidents; interest rate fluctuations and 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; catastrophic events such
as fires, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes or other similar occurrences; the
direct or 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. Southern Company and its subsidiaries expressly disclaim any obligation
to update any forward-looking information.
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