The Southern Company Q4 FY2020 Earnings Call

· Earnings call transcript and AI-powered summary

Key Financial Highlights

  • 2020 adjusted EPS was $3.25, up $0.14 from 2019 and above the top end of guidance by $0.03.
  • Weather-normalized retail electric sales down 1.4% year-over-year, driven by COVID-19 impacts, partially offset by customer growth.
  • Milder 2020 temperatures negatively impacted EPS by $0.21 compared to 2019.
  • COVID-related non-fuel revenue decline estimated at $300 million, at the lower end of original projections.
  • State-regulated utilities added 53,000+ new electric customers and nearly 30,000 natural gas customers, with strong in‑migration into the Southeast supporting growth.

2021 Outlook

  • Guidance: $3.25–$3.35 EPS.
  • Q1 2021 expected EPS: $0.84.
  • Retail sales expected to be flat to up 1%, excluding short-term COVID impacts.
  • Continued cost discipline expected to offset lingering COVID impacts.

Long-Term Growth Outlook

  • New long-term EPS growth target: 5%–7% annually, based on expected adjusted EPS of $4.00–$4.30 in 2024.
  • Approximately 90% of projected earnings over the next five years will come from state-regulated utilities.
  • Capital plan for 2021–2025 totals $40 billion, with 95% directed to regulated utilities and >5% annual rate base growth.
  • No equity needs forecast over the five‑year plan horizon.

Vogtle Units 3 & 4 Construction Update

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Operator: Good afternoon. My name is Pema, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to The Southern Company Fourth Quarter 2020 Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers’ remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, today's conference is being recorded Thursday, February 18, 2021. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Scott Gammill, Investor Relations Director. Please, go ahead, sir. Scott Gammill: Thank you, Pema. Good afternoon, and welcome to Southern Company's year-end 2020 earnings call. Joining me today are Tom Fanning, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Southern Company; and Drew Evans, Chief Financial Officer. Let me remind you, we'll be making forward-looking statements today in addition to providing historical information. Various important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements, including those discussed in our Form 10-K and subsequent filings. In addition, we will present non-GAAP financial information on this call. Reconciliations to the applicable GAAP measures are included in the financial information we released this morning, as well as the slides for this conference call, which are both available on our Investor Relations website at investor.southerncompany.com. At this time, I'll turn the call over to Tom F

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