[A-List] Europe/US rivalry: Deutsche Bank vs. Exxon

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Greenpeace hails Deutsche warning

Terry Macalister
Friday October 11, 2002
The Guardian

A top investment bank has warned ExxonMobil that being tarred with the label
of "environmental enemy number one" is a risk to its business.

Deutsche Bank says investors should be worried about the Greenpeace-backed
StopEsso campaign. The research note, published by Deutsche's
Edinburgh-based energy team, has been seized on by Greenpeace as evidence
that its campaign against the world's number one oil company is having a
serious impact.

Greenpeace has claimed that one million motorists are boycotting Esso petrol
stations in Britain as a protest against Exxon's apparent unwillingness to
take global warming seriously.

In Deutsche's view Exxon's shares remain a "hold".

The investment bank's research note says: "While the company insists that it
has suffered no fiscal impact from the boycott, being handed a reputation as
environmental enemy number one for such a customer-facing business has to be
considered a brand risk."

Exxon in London insisted last night that it had made a significant
contribution to renewable energy which appeared to have gone unrecognised.

"We do not agree that ExxonMobil's approach to climate change is diminishing
shareholder value and any allegation that we are not taking a constructive
approach to the issue of climate change is completely unfounded," a company
spokesman said.