Dive Brief:
- Southern Co. reported third quarter 2014 earnings of $718 million, or $0.80 per share, compared with earnings of $852 million, or $0.97 per share, in Q3 2013.
- The results include after-tax charges of $258 million and $493 million for the previous three and nine months ended Sept. 30, related to increased cost estimates for the construction of Mississippi Power's Kemper County integrated gasification combined cycle project.
- The Wall Street Journal points out that the company did see a 6.4% revenue increase in the quarter, a boost it received in part from economic improvement in the Southeast.
Dive Insight:
Earnings at Southern were helped by increased industrial sales, closer-to-normal weather and retail revenue effects at Southern Co.'s traditional operating companies, the company said. Earnings were negatively influenced by increased non-fuel operations and maintenance expenses.
"We continue to see evidence of economic recovery across the Southeast, such as increases in industrial sales and residential customer growth," said Southern Chairman, President and CEO Thomas A. Fanning. "We will support this recovery, as always, through our customer-focused business model and our commitment to providing clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy."
Fanning also pointed to progress at the Kemper County project, saying that with construction essentially complete the company's focus "turns towards the startup of the gasification and carbon capture systems. We believe our recent schedule extension will help preserve the long-term value of this important technology."
According to the Wall Street Journal, the total price on the Kemper facility is about $5.24 billion.