Posted on 10/11/2002 8:46:16 AM PDT by Prodigal Son
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.
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