Press Release | Geneva (Switzerland), 26 January 2010

IBM (Technology), Intel Corp (Technology) and HSBC Holdings (Banks) top Covalence ethical ranking among 581 multinationals within 18 sectors.

Environmental initiatives, Eco-innovative products and social sponsorships have enabled companies to generate positive coverage in 2009, while issues related to downsizing, CO2 emissions and working conditions caused the most criticisms.

New sector leaders are: BMW Group (Automobiles & Parts), Walt Disney Co. (Media), and Suncor Energy Inc. (Oil & Gas). Across sectors, companies progressing the most during 2009 were:  BT Group plc (Telecommunication), Kimberly-Clark Corporation (Personal & Household Goods), Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Technology), and Siemens AG (Industrial Goods & Services). Companies losing ground were: Caterpillar Inc. (Industrial Goods & Services), Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (Financial Services), Vale S.A. (Basic Resources), and Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (Banks).

Considering recently included companies, the best ranked are: Sodexo (Travel & Leisure), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Industrial Goods & Services), and Visa Inc. (Financial Services). New companies appearing at the bottom of the ranking are: Philip Morris International Inc. (Personal & Household Goods), Hess Corporation (Oil & Gas), and Mega Financial Holding Co. LTD (Financial Services).

The most active criteria in 2009 were, among positive news: Environmental Impact of Production (15% of all positive news), Eco Innovative Product (12%), Social Sponsorship (12%), and Information to Consumers (4%). On the negative side, the most active criteria were:  Downsizing (23%!), Environmental Impact of Production (10%), Labour Standards (10%), and Wages (8%).

Leaders Across Sectors: 1. IBM, 2. Intel Corp, 3. HSBC Holdings, 4. Marks & Spencer, 5. Unilever, 6. Xerox, 7. General Electric, 8. Cisco Systems, 9. Dell Inc., 10. Procter & Gamble > More results across sectors

Sector Leaders (click on sector to view details): Automobiles & Parts: BMW Group; Banks: HSBC Holdings; Basic Resources: Alcoa Inc; Chemicals: DuPont; Construction & Materials: Holcim; Financial Services: American Express; Food & Beverages: Unilever; Health Care: GlaxoSmithKline; Industrial Goods & Services: General Electric; Insurance: Swiss Re; Media: Walt Disney Co.; Oil & Gas: Suncor Energy Inc.; Personal & Household Goods: Procter & Gamble; Retail: Marks & Spencer; Technology: IBM; Telecommunication: Vodafone; Travel & Leisure: Starbucks; Utilities: PG&E Corp.

Companies are ranked within each sector as well as on a cross-sector basis. Built on web-based public information, this ranking runs from 2002 to December 31st 2009.

Details on rankings can be found in the Ethical Snapshots.

• Press Release (.pdf)

About Covalence

Covalence ethical quotation system is a reputation index based on quantifying qualitative data, which is classified according to 45 criteria such as Labour standards, Waste management, Product social utility or Human rights policy. It is a barometer of how multinationals are perceived in the ethical field.

The system integrates thousands of documents found among media, enterprise, NGO and other sources, for producing the EthicalQuote score which serves as a base for calculating Covalence rankings. This score reflects the historical evolution of multinational companies’ ethical reputation.

This tool received the Cantonal Sustainable Development Prize (Geneva) in 2004 and prompted Covalence among the finalists of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2005 award organised by the Schwab Foundation. Covalence research is also distributed by Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg and Capital IQ.

Covalence is closely monitoring 18 sectors including 581 companies that are included in the Dow Jones Sector Titans. Covalence is a limited company that was founded in Geneva in 2001 by six persons with political science and finance backgrounds.

Press contact

Covalence SA Antoine Mach, Direction & Research

Tel: +41 (0)22 800 08 55; antoine.mach@covalence.ch

Sales contact

Covalence SA Marc Rochat, Marketing & Sales

Tel: +41 (0)22 800 08 55; marc.rochat@covalence.ch