Fitch assigns Southern floaters A

Fitch Ratings said it assigned a rating of A to the $600 million of floating-rate notes to be issued by Southern Co.

The maturity date of the new notes is Aug. 20, 2010 and the interest rate is Libor plus 70 basis points, the agency said, adding that the notes are unsecured and rank equally with existing and future unsecured notes of Southern.

The proceeds will be used to reduce a portion of short term debt, which totaled $639 million as of Aug.12, the agency noted.

The outlook is stable.

Fitch added that Southern's primary rating strengths include: constructive state regulation, low business risk, above-average growth of economically vibrant territories and strong performance of the mainly coal and nuclear-based capacity.

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