By Dieter Holger

Southern Co.'s profit and sales missed Wall Street's expectations in the latest quarter.

The Atlanta-based power company said Thursday that net income was $387 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, down from $440 million a year ago. It booked earnings per share of 37 cents, versus 42 cents last year.

Its adjusted earnings were 47 cents per share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 42 cents a share.

Sales rose to $5.12 billion in the quarter from $4.9 billion a year ago. Analysts expected sales of $5.8 billion.

Write to Dieter Holger at dieter.holger@wsj.com; @dieterholger

Corrections & Amplifications

This was corrected at 1300 GMT because the original version incorrectly said the company missed Wall Street's expectations on profit in the headline and incorrectly cited the FactSet consensus estimates for adjusted earnings per share and sales. Southern Co. beat analysts' adjusted earnings estimate of 42 cents a share but missed their sales estimate of $5.8 billion.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-18-21 0642ET