By Lisa Beilfuss
Southern Co., one of the biggest utilities in the U.S., said
warmer weather and customer growth helped lift second-quarter
profit more than 2%, though sales declined and the company took a
bigger hit from its delayed Kemper County plant project.
Chief Executive Thomas Fanning said that for the first time
since 2004, the company has had consecutive quarters of
weather-normalized growth in all three customer classes.
Residential energy sales rose 4.6% while commercial sales grew
2.3%. Adjusted for weather, residential sales rose 1.2% and
commercial sales increased 0.7%.
The Atlanta company's results in recent quarters have been
dogged by charges stemming from its Kemper County project, a
clean-coal power plant under construction in Mississippi that had
been expected to provide a bright future for the coal industry.
Southern has repeatedly delayed completion dates, and was dealt a
blow in May when South Mississippi Electric Power Association,
which furnishes power to smaller utilities in the state, pulled its
investment in Kemper.
The company during the quarter booked a $14 million after-tax
charge related to Kemper construction delays, more than double the
charge booked in the first quarter.
A spokeswoman on Wednesday said the company remains focused on
an expected in-service date for Kemper in the first half of
2016.
For the quarter, Southern reported a profit of $643 million, up
from $628 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis after the
payout of preferred dividends, earnings rose a penny to 69 cents.
Excluding the loss stemming from Kemper, earnings per share were 71
cents.
Revenue declined 2.9% to $4.34 billion. Fuel revenue fell 13%,
while other revenue increased 4.4%.
Analysts anticipated 69 cents in earnings per share and $4.67
billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters.
Shares in the company, down 12% this year, slipped 0.6% in
afternoon trading.
Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com