Reputation up for Canadian

 Study Reveals Critical Link between Reputation and Word of Mouth Support
 in Driving Bottom Line Results

 TORONTO, June 25 /CNW/ - Amidst turbulent times in corporate Canada this
year, Canadian-owned companies' reputations have remained strong in the minds
of Canadians. In a global survey conducted by Reputation Institute earlier
this year, the corporate reputations of the largest Canadian-owned companies
generally improved with the banking sector showing particularly strong gains
in admiration, respect and trust with Canadian consumers.
 "As corporate scandals continue to weigh heavily on people's minds, while
they lose their jobs and savings in the current financial crisis, a strong
corporate reputation is no longer a 'nice to have', but rather, absolutely
essential to business success," said Rob Jekielek, Principal, Reputation
Institute. "This year's Canadian results not only illustrate a strong
relationship between the strength of a company's reputation and how likely
consumers are to recommend that company, but also show that corporate ethics/
transparency has now become even more important than products/services in
managing corporate reputation with Canadian consumers."
 Two Canadian companies that stood out included Shoppers Drug Mart and
Royal Bank. Shoppers moved into the top tier of global corporate reputations
joining reputation leaders like Johnson & Johnson and IKEA, while Royal Bank,
whose reputation improved from average to strong, showed the best improvement
from 2008 to 2009 among the most reputable Canadian companies.
 In addition, top Canadian reputation companies saw direct benefits from
their reputation as consumers were twice as likely to both recommend and the
give benefit of the doubt to Canadian companies with strong reputations vs.
Canadian companies with poor reputations.

 Key highlights from 2009 Canadian Global Reputation Pulse study include:

 -   For the first time, Governance (ethics/transparency) was the most
     important dimension of Reputation for Canadian consumers, moving
     ahead of Products/Services
 -   Canadian Tire and the Jean Coutu Group continue to have strong
     reputations.
 -   Bombardier is the highest ranked company with significant
     international visibility.
 -   Canadian banks saw large increases in reputation scores; RBC having
     the top score, and having the biggest gain among most reputable
     Canadian companies, while BMO made the largest improvement in the
     overall study.
 -   The telecommunications sector (represented by TELUS, Rogers, Bell
     Canada and Nortel) has the weakest reputation in the minds of the
     public.

 Building a Strong Reputation
 ----------------------------

 The Global Reputation Pulse study proves that excellent reputations are
built across seven dimensions of reputation: Products/Services, Innovation,
Governance, Workplace, Citizenship, Leadership and Performance. It further
shows that to establish a solid reputation, it is essential that companies
address all seven dimensions.
 The most influential reputation dimension for Canadian consumers is
Governance (ethics/transparency), pushing ahead of Products / Services for the
first time. This year Leadership and Financial Performance were also
increasingly important in building reputation. However to earn trust,
admiration, good feeling and support companies need to address all seven
dimensions of reputation. In Canada, each one alone accounts for over 12
percent of reputation.

 Global Reputation Pulse - Largest Canadian Owned Companies
 (in Bilibala's portfolio highlighted in blue)
 ----------------------------------------------------------

 -----------------------------------------------
                                         Global
 Rank          Company                   Pulse
                                         Score
 -----------------------------------------------
  1      Shoppers Drug Mart              80.56
  2      Jean Coutu Group                79.54
  3      Canadian Tire                   76.28
  4      Bombardier                      73.36
  5      RBC Royal Bank                  70.26
  6      George Weston Limited (Weston)  70.25
  7      Canadian National Railway       69.35
  8      Metro                           69.22
  9      TD Canada Trust                 68.99
  10     EnCana                          68.78
  11     Husky Energy                    68.06
  12     Manulife                        67.49
  13     Couche-Tard                     66.72
  14     Sun Life Financial              66.64
  15     BMO Bank of Montreal            64.31
  16     Scotiabank                      63.81
  17     Petro-Canada                    60.75
  18     Hydro Quebec                    60.47
  19     Power Corp.                     60.27
  20     Enbridge                        59.59
  21     CIBC                            55.44
  22     Air Canada                      55.25
  23     Telus                           53.94
  24     Rogers Communications           53.74
  25     Bell Canada (BCE)               49.21
  26     Nortel                          36.20
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