Southern Co. Earnings Fall Short of Expectations

Earnings Scorecard
Actual	Estimated*	Year-Ago
$0.21	$0.25	$0.22

Shares of Southern Co.(SO Quote) were heading south this morning after the company said its fourth-quarter earnings came in short of Wall Street's expectations.

Southern's shares were lately trading down 81 cents or 2.9%, at $26.81, having closed at $27.63 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Atlanta-based utility holding company posted earnings of $148 million, or 21 cents a share, compared with $143 million, or 22 cents a share for the same period one year before. A consensus estimate by analysts had predicted earnings would come in at 25 cents a share, according to First Call/Thomson Financial.

Southern also announced this morning that its directors will consider the spin-off of Southern Energy (SOE Quote), a subsidiary company, on April 2. The company also said Southern Energy will be renamed Mirant Corporation, and will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 22 under the symbol MIR.