Southern beats forecasts for second quarter profit

ATLANTA — Southern Co. on Wednesday reported second-quarter net income of $650 million.

On a per-share basis, the Atlanta-based company said it had profit of 68 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were 74 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 69 cents per share.

The power company posted revenue of $4.45 billion in the period.