January 28, 2013

Sustainability ratings 2012

More sustainability accolades for Henkel

Henkel has been honored a further three times as a leading proponent of sustainability in its sector – both within Germany and in comparison with its international peers. And the company has also taken top positions in recent online sustainability communication rankings.

In its corporate values, Henkel states its commitment to further extending its leadership in sustainability. And its pioneer position has been reaffirmed, with Henkel’s performance in sustainable development yet again garnering recognition in various national and international rankings. In the last two months alone, Henkel has been placed top in three such comparisons.

Last week, the world-renowned “Global 100” ranking was announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The assessment covered over 4000 international corporations, comparing their performance in the field of sustainable development. The publisher – independent Canadian media, research and financial products company, Corporate Knights – selected the 100 candidates that best met their sector-specific ecological, social and economic challenges, with Henkel qualifying as one of the few.  

Coinciding with this accolade, the 2013 Sustainability Yearbook placed Henkel in its “Gold Class” within the “Nondurable Household Products” category.  This year marked the tenth edition of the yearbook published by the sustainability investment funds specialist RobecoSAM in collaboration with KPMG. This puts Henkel in the number one spot within its sector. The assessment criteria applied included not only environmental themes such as ecological efficiency, but also economic and social factors. 

And toward the end of last year, the rating agency oekom research, another specialist in sustainable investment solutions, once again assigned “Prime Status” to Henkel. This too confirms the company’s position among the world’s best in terms of sustainability performance within its sector. 

Henkel’s online communications awarded
Henkel also took two top spots for its web-based sustainability communications. According to an annually repeated academic study by Leuphana University Lüneburg investigating the online sustainability reporting of DAX30 corporations, Henkel is the number one performer in this sphere. It is the third time that the company has taken one of the top positions. Among the aspects assessed were sustainability information accessibility and comprehensibility, utilization of the internet as a forum for dialogue with stakeholders, and the role of social media. 

Henkel has also again been listed in “CSR Benchmark 2012,” a corporate citizenship ranking published by management consultancy NetFederation. In its assessment of 100 major German corporations and their treatment of sustainability issues in the internet, Henkel took second place with a score of 89.2 percent. 

These good placements achieved by Henkel are, however, hardly surprising. For years now, external experts, sustainability analysts and specialist institutions have been consistently impressed by Henkel’s performance in relation to sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. And Henkel intends to further expand its position in the vanguard of this domain by continuing to develop, together with its partners, viable concepts and solutions for the future.

Henkel operates worldwide with leading brands and technologies in three business areas: Laundry & Home Care, Beauty Care and Adhesive Technologies. Founded in 1876, Henkel holds globally leading market positions both in the consumer and industrial businesses with well-known brands such as Persil, Schwarzkopf and Loctite. Henkel employs about 47,000 people and reported sales of 15,605 million euros and adjusted operating profit of 2,029 million euros in fiscal 2011. Henkel’s preferred shares are listed in the German stock index DAX.

Photo material available for downloading at http://www.henkel.com/press.

Contact	Evelyn Necker	Dorothee Geisel
Phone:	+49 211 797 4754	+49 211 797 9265
Fax:	+49 211 798 4040	+49 211 798 19265
E-mail:	evelyn.necker@henkel.com	dorothee.geisel@henkel.com

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA