Southern Company reported third quarter earnings of $762.0 million, or $1.00 a share. The earnings compared with $738.0 million, or 99 cents a share, in the third quarter of 2006.

Earnings for the first nine months of 2007 were $1.53 billion, or $2.03 a share, compared with $1.38 billion, or $1.86 a share, for the same period a year ago.

Excluding the impact of synthetic fuel investments, third quarter earnings per share were 99 cents, compared with 99 cents in the third quarter of 2006, and earnings for the first nine months of 2007 were $1.96 a share, compared with $1.86 a share for the same period in 2006.

Chairman, President and CEO David M. Ratcliffe said the company continued to achieve superior operational performance during a challenging summer season.

"Operationally, we've had an extraordinary year. The hard work of our employees enabled us to meet unprecedented demand as we set five successive peak records while in the midst of an extreme drought," Ratcliffe said. "Our business units continue to perform well -- operating at historically high levels of reliability, achieving industry-leading customer satisfaction levels and continuing to offer retail prices more than 17 percent below the national average."

The number of customers served by Southern Company grew 1.5 percent in the third quarter. The Southeast continues to attract new residents and experience economic growth despite a slowdown in the national economy. The unemployment rate in the Southeast is 4.2 percent, compared with the nation's 4.6 percent. Personal income growth continues to be strong in the third quarter, at 4.6 percent in the Southeast compared with the nation's 3.6 percent growth rate.

The positive earnings drivers in the third quarter also include state regulatory actions and positive margins from commercial and industrial market- based rates. The drivers were offset in part by higher operations and maintenance expenses, higher interest expense, and asset depreciation primarily associated with increased investment in environmental equipment and transmission and distribution related to maintaining reliability in the growing Southeast.

Total revenues for the third quarter were $4.83 billion compared with $4.55 billion in the third quarter of 2006, a 6.2 percent increase. For the first nine months of the year, revenues totaled $12.01 billion, compared with $11.20 billion in the same period a year ago, an increase of 7.2 percent.

In the third quarter, kilowatt-hour sales to retail customers in Southern Company's four-state service area increased 1.2 percent compared with sales during the 2006 third quarter. Residential electricity sales increased 1.5 percent. Commercial sales increased 2.8 percent and industrial sales declined 1.0 percent.

Total sales of electricity to Southern Company's customers in the Southeast, including wholesale sales, increased 1.6 percent compared with the third quarter last year.

With 4.3 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE:SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast, one of America's fastest-growing regions. 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 significantly below the national average. Southern Company has been listed the top ranking U.S. electric service provider in customer satisfaction for eight consecutive years by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Visit our Web site at www.southerncompany.com.

Fri Oct 26 09:11:00 CDT 2007