Southern Company reported third quarter 2017 earnings of $1.07 billion, or $1.07 per share, compared with earnings of $1.14 billion, or $1.18 per share, in the third quarter of 2016.  For the nine months ended September 30, 2017, Southern Company reported earnings of $347 million, or 35 cents per share, compared with earnings of $2.25 billion, or $2.40 per share, for the same period in 2016.

Excluding the items described in the "Net Income – Excluding Items" table below, Southern Company earned $1.13 billion, or $1.12 per share, during the third quarter of 2017, compared with $1.23 billion, or $1.27 per share, during the third quarter of 2016.  For the nine months ended September 30, 2017, excluding these items, Southern Company earned $2.51 billion, or $2.51 per share, compared with earnings of $2.46 billion, or $2.62 per share, for the same period in 2016.

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

Earnings drivers year-over-year for the third quarter 2017 were positively influenced by retail revenue effects at Southern Company's traditional electric operating companies and were negatively influenced by mild weather, timing for Southern Power tax credits, increased interest expense and share issuances.

"Our premier, state-regulated electric and gas franchise operations and our competitive generation subsidiary, Southern Power, continued to perform at a high level in the third quarter of 2017, delivering on our commitment to provide clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy to customers," said Chairman, President and CEO Thomas A. Fanning. "This longstanding customer focus, as further manifested by the resiliency demonstrated in our hurricane restoration efforts during the past quarter, is the cornerstone for delivering on our long-term financial objectives as we continue to build America's energy future."

Third quarter 2017 operating revenues were $6.20 billion, compared with $6.26 billion for the third quarter of 2016, a decrease of 1.0 percent. This decrease in quarter-over-quarter revenues is primarily due to the effects of milder weather and electricity outages experienced during Hurricane Irma. For the nine months ended September 30, 2017, operating revenues were $17.4 billion, compared with $14.7 billion during the same period of 2016, an increase of 18.3 percent. Southern Company Gas accounted for $2.3 billion of the increase in operating revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2017.