Southern Company reports fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 earnings

Southern Company today reported fourth-quarter earnings of $855 million, or 78 cents per share, in 2023 compared with a loss of $87 million, or 8 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2022.  Southern Company also reported full-year 2023 earnings of $4.0 billion, or $3.64 per share, compared with $3.5 billion, or $3.28 per share, in 2022.

Excluding the items described under “Net Income – Excluding Items” in the table below, Southern Company earned $700 million, or 64 cents per share, during the fourth quarter of 2023, compared with $285 million, or 26 cents per share, during the fourth quarter of 2022.  For the full-year 2023, excluding these items, Southern Company earned $4.0 billion, or $3.65 per share, compared with $3.9 billion, or $3.60 per share, for 2022.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures		Three Months Ended December			Year-to-Date December
Net Income - Excluding Items (in millions)		2023	2022		2023	2022
Net Income - As Reported		$855	$(87)		$3,976	$3,524
Less:
Estimated Loss on Plants Under Construction		222	(205)		51	(199)
Tax Impact		(56)	52		(13)	51
Acquisition and Disposition Impacts		1	(134)		(1)	(115)
Tax Impact		32	34		33	32
Loss on Extinguishment of Debt		-	-		(5)	-
Tax Impact		-	-		1	-
Estimated Loss on Qualifying Infrastructure Plant and Other Capital Investments		(58)	-		(96)	-
Tax Impact		14	-		24	-
Impairments		-	(119)		-	(119)
Tax Impact		-	-		-	-
Net Income – Excluding Items		$700	$285		$3,982	$3,874
Average Shares Outstanding – (in millions)		1,092	1,090		1,092	1,075
Basic Earnings Per Share – Excluding Items		$0.64	$0.26		$3.65	$3.60

NOTE: For more information regarding these non-GAAP adjustments, see the footnotes accompanying the Financial Highlights page of the earnings package.

Adjusted earnings drivers for the full year 2023, as compared with 2022, were higher utility revenues, lower non-fuel operations and maintenance costs and income taxes, partially offset by increased depreciation and amortization and interest expense, and milder than normal weather at the company’s regulated electric utilities.      

Fourth-quarter 2023 operating revenues were $6.0 billion, compared with $7.0 billion for the fourth quarter of 2022, a decrease of 14.2 percent. Operating revenues for the full year 2023 were $25.3 billion, compared with $29.3 billion in 2022, a decrease of 13.8 percent. These decreases were primarily due to lower fuel costs in 2023.

“Last year was an exceptional year for Southern Company,” said Chairman, President and CEO Christopher C. Womack. “In 2023, we once again demonstrated that we can accomplish extraordinary things. In addition to delivering strong financial results in the face of unprecedented headwinds, we completed Plant Vogtle Unit 3 – the first newly-constructed nuclear unit in the United States in over three decades.”

Southern Company’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings slides with supplemental financial information, including earnings guidance, are available at http://investor.southerncompany.com.

 

Southern Company’s financial analyst call will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern Time today, during which Womack and Chief Financial Officer Daniel S. Tucker will discuss earnings and provide a general business update. Investors, media and the public may listen to a live webcast of the call and view associated slides at http://investor.southerncompany.com. A replay of the webcast will be available on the site for 12 months.