DON’T LAUGH but, according to the Reputation Institute’s 2009 Global Reputation Pulse study, Anglo Irish Bank is the fifth most respected company in Ireland, albeit with 30 points out of 100.
And lest you think that participants were polled before the various shenanigans at Anglo were exposed late last year, the study was carried out in late January and February 2009, when Anglo’s stock was probably at its lowest.
How Anglo scored any points at all is hard to conceive.
For the record, food company Kerry Group was the most respected Irish company, followed by CRH, AIB and Bank of Ireland.
Italian chocolate-maker Ferrero was rated the world’s top company, followed by Sweden’s Ikea and Johnson Johnson.
This was the first time Irish companies had been included.
I can’t wait for next year’s rankings.
IF YOU want an indication of activity levels in the Irish economy take a look at the Competition Authority’s website. The watchdog yesterday gave the green light for the proposed partial acquisition in Ireland of Fresh Trading Limited – which controls the Innocent smoothies and fruit juice brand – by the Coca-Cola Company.
It wasn’t an earth-shattering decision in itself but, according to the website, there are now no “active mergers” in the pipeline.
If you’re looking for the first green shoots of recovery you can do worse than keeping an eye to www.tca.ie.
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