Southern Co misses fourth-quarter profit estimates on higher interest costs

Feb 20 (Reuters) - U.S. utility Southern Co SO.N narrowly missed Wall Street expectations for fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by higher operating costs and interest expenses.

Shares of the company fell 1.1% in premarket trading.

Interest rates in the U.S. have been elevated for more than two years, which has made it more expensive for utilities to invest in the construction and maintenance of critical infrastructure such as electrical grids.

Southern Co's interest costs for the October-December quarter rose to $693 million from $634 million last year.

Its total operating expenses rose 9% to $5.28 billion in the fourth quarter, with operating and maintenance costs climbing 14.6% to $1.99 billion.

The utility company serves nearly 9 million customers across six states – Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia.

The Atlanta, Georgia-based company's net income for the October-December quarter fell 37.5% to $534 million, or 49 cents per share.

Southern Co posted an adjusted profit of 50 cents per share for the quarter, compared with analyst estimates of 51 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.