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
Jan. 26, 2006
Southern Company reports solid fourth quarter earnings; strong
economy in region helps drive 2005 results
ATLANTA - With continued economic strength in the Southeast and customer growth
driving increased use of electricity, Southern Company today reported solid
fourth quarter earnings of $158.9 million, or 21 cents a share.
This compared with reported earnings, including one-time items, of $204.5
million, or 27 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2004.
Southern Company also said full-year 2005 earnings were $1.59 billion, or $2.14
a share, exceeding analysts' expectations. Reported earnings for 2004, including
the one-time items, were $1.53 billion, or $2.07 per share.
Earnings in 2004 included one-time items in the fourth quarter related to the
resolution of an Internal Revenue Service audit for the years 2000 and 2001,
which had the net effect of increasing earnings by $24 million, or 3 cents per
share. Excluding the impact of the one-time items, fourth quarter 2004 earnings
were $180.4 million, or 24 cents a share. Full-year earnings for 2004, excluding
the one-time items, were $1.51 billion, or $2.04 per share.
Chairman, President and CEO David M. Ratcliffe said the positive results for
2005 were made possible primarily by the continued strength of the region's
economy and the company's focus on achieving unquestionable trust, superior
performance and total commitment.
"Southern Company employees met significant challenges in 2005 to deliver
outstanding results for our customers, most notably restoring power quickly and
safely following the unprecedented damage caused by Hurricane Katrina,"
Ratcliffe said.
The region continued to attract new residents and businesses throughout the
year; despite the overall rate of customer growth slowing because of the
hurricanes, the company was serving about 50,000 more customers at the end of
2005 than at the same time a year earlier, an increase of 1.2 percent. Another
key earnings driver was the growth in the competitive wholesale generation
business, which continued to add new long-term sales contracts to its portfolio.
These and other positive earnings drivers were offset in part by increased
operations and maintenance expenses related to serving the growing energy needs
of the Southeast and, in the fourth quarter, the resumption of work that had
been deferred earlier in the year because of hurricanes.
Fourth quarter revenues were $3.29 billion, compared with $2.67 billion in the
same period a year earlier, an increase of 23.2 percent. Revenues for the full
year were $13.55 billion, compared with $11.73 billion in 2004, a 15.5 percent
increase.
Kilowatt-hour sales to retail customers in Southern Company's four-state service
area increased 1.2 percent in 2005, compared with 2004. Residential electricity
use increased 2.8 percent. In 2005, some Georgia Power industrial customers were
reclassified from the industrial class to the commercial class to be consistent
with the rate structure approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission.
Adjusting the 2004 numbers for comparison purposes, electricity use by
commercial customers -- offices, stores and other non-manufacturing firms -
increased 1.5 percent. Industrial energy use declined 0.3 percent. As reported,
without adjusting the 2004 kilowatt-hour sales, commercial sales in 2005
increased 3.6 percent, and industrial energy sales decreased 2.2 percent.
Total sales of electricity to Southern Company's customers in the Southeast,
including wholesale sales, increased 2.3 percent in 2005, compared with 2004.
In conjunction with this earnings announcement, Southern Company has posted on
its Web site detailed financial information on its fourth quarter and 2005
performance. These materials are available at 7:30 a.m. EST Jan. 26 at
www.southerncompany.com.
Southern Company's financial analyst call will be at 1 p.m. EST Jan. 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 4.2 million customers and more than 40,000 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 and a
growing competitive generation company, 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 six 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, 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 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 implementation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, 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, FERC matters, 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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