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Southern Company (SO) Tops Q2 Earnings and Sales Estimates

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Power supplier The Southern Company (SO - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2017 earnings per share (excluding certain one-time items) of 73 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 71 cents. Better-than-expected results were driven by higher revenues mainly from the Southern Company Gas which was acquired in Jul 2016. However the bottom line declined from the year-ago adjusted profit of 75 cents.

The Atlanta-based utility’s quarterly revenues of $5,430 million were 21% higher than the year-ago quarter level of $4,459 million and also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4,877 million, driven by robust performance of its wholesale unit.

Southern Company (The) Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Sales Report

Southern Company’s total retail sales fell 1.5%, with both residential and commercial sales declining. Total wholesale sales during the fourth quarter jumped 45.1% from the same period last year. However, industrial sales dipped 0.8% year over year.

Total electricity sales during the first quarter were up 6.5% from the same period last year.

Expenses Break Up

The power supplier’s operations and maintenance cost increased 18.3% to $1,301 million, while the utility’s total operating expense for the period – at $7,024 million – was up 114.5% from the prior-year level. Kemper IGCC plant suffered a loss of $3,012 million owing to escalating costs in the quarter.

Zacks Rank

Southern Company is one of the largest generators of electricity in the nation along with the likes of Exelon Corporation (EXC - Free Report) , RWE Aktiengesellschaft (RWEOY - Free Report) and Duke Energy Corporation (DUK - Free Report) . Southern Company currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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