Good scores in sustainability ratings

Deutsche Telekom continuously scores at the top of international sustainability ratings, based on its environmental and social performance.

Sustainable production and the voluntary assumption of social responsibility have long been seen as key criteria for assessing a company’s economic performance. Specialist agencies and financial service providers analyze and rate companies’ activities and strategies from a sustainability viewpoint, and offer in-depth information about its economic, ecological and social commitment activities.

These sustainability ratings play an increasingly important role in the international financial markets, partly due to a growing demand for ethical and sustainable investments.

Ratings are exerting a growing influence on companies because they increasingly influence analysts’ investment recommendations and the investment decisions of both institutional and private investors. They help companies to identify the opportunities and risks of their actions, and to optimize business processes.

Overall, sustainable investment has expanded at a rapid rate in Europe over the past few years. According to a 2006 study by the Sustainable Business Institute (SBI) at the European Business School in Östrich-Winkel, Germany, sustainable investments account for between five and ten percent of total assets under management in Europe.

For many years, Deutsche Telekom has offered its sustainability performance for external assessment, and has repeatedly achieved top ratings.

Sustainable Asset Management (SAM)

SAM has listed Deutsche Telekom in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI World) without interruption since its inception in 1999. The agency analyzes more than 2,000 companies worldwide from a social, ecological and economic viewpoint. Only the top 10 percent from any given year are included in the index. Deutsche Telekom’s good rating also led to its inclusion in the DJSI Stoxx Index, which lists only the best European companies.

oekom research

The agency oekom research analyzes companies from an ecological and socio-cultural perspective, and carries out sector-specific research based on the Corporate Responsibility Rating. The think tank, which reports to leading financial service providers, recommends Deutsche Telekom as a “prime” investment.

Bank Sarasin

Bank Sarasin lists Deutsche Telekom as a "Sustainability Leader" in the telecommunications sector. This private bank, which has its own “Sustainable Investment” arm, performs its own analyses to ensure that only companies which satisfy exacting sustainability requirements are included in its portfolio of sustainability funds.

INVERA (Investment Ethics Research & Advisory)

In 2006, Swiss analysts at the INVERA research agency rated Deutsche Telekom as “ethically positive” for the second time, on the basis of an in-depth analysis. This means that the company qualified for inclusion in the ethical investment fund of asset management company Dr. Höller.

Ethical Investment Research (EIRiS) and Institut für Markt-Umwelt-Gesellschaft e.V. (imug)

imug is commissioned by EIRiS to analyze German, Austrian and Swiss listed companies in terms of their social and ecological performance. In collaboration with international partners, EIRiS analyzes more than 2,600 international companies. A special database provides ethically-minded investors with the information they require. Thanks to its consistently good sustainability performance, Deutsche Telekom is regularly listed on the FTSE4Good sustainability index (FTSE = Financial Times Stock Exchange), and was also selected for immediate inclusion in the new FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index.

Sustainable Investment Research International (SiRi) and scoris

As a partner to the international SiRi Company, the scoris agency analyzes German and Austrian companies in terms of their sustainability performance. Its database of more than 1,000 international companies provides potential investors with relevant data for their investment decisions. A ranking by the financial journal €URO in January 2007, based on the corporate profiles prepared by scoris, ranked Deutsche Telekom at number one in the DAX 30.

Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is an initiative involving more than 300 institutional investors with total assets of 41 trillion dollars (as of July 2007). For its latest report, the financial experts from CDP surveyed more than 1,800 international groups about their climate protection strategy, greenhouse gas emissions as well as services and products that help to avoid greenhouse gases. Their findings for the world's largest 500 companies were published in their CDP4 Report 2006. This report listed Deutsche Telekom as one of only three of the world’s major companies, and the only telecommunications provider, to achieve the maximum rating of 100 percent, making it a world leader in climate protection according to this rating.

Vigeo

This ratings agency analyzes around 600 European companies and makes the results available to institutional investors and asset managers. A positive rating from Vigeo led to Deutsche Telekom’s inclusion in the French ASPI Eurozone Index family (Advanced Sustainable Performance Indices), which lists 120 European companies.

KLD Research & Analytics

Boston-based research institute KLD, in collaboration with the Global Energy Network Institute (GENI), created the Global Climate 100SM Index. Only companies with an exceptional climate protection performance are eligible for inclusion in the worldwide GC 100. Deutsche Telekom qualified for the second time in succession in 2007. The Global Climate 100SM Index aims to promote investments in companies with the greatest potential for minimizing the consequences of global climate change.

Innovest Strategic Value Advisors

The internationally respected ratings agency Innovest (USA) rates companies worldwide according to their intangible assets – focusing, for example, on sustainable corporate management and the structure of stakeholder relationships as well as their ecological performance. Key considerations include competitiveness, profitability and stock price. Sustainably-minded investors in the USA, Canada and Europe can make responsible investment decisions based on these results. In the telecommunications sector, Deutsche Telekom has ranked among the top performers since day one. Each year for the Davos World Economic Summit, Innovest collaborates with Corporate Knights of Canada to identify the world’s 100 most sustainable companies and publishes this list as the Global 100.