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Rating Research Assigns “AA” Reputation Ratings to Northern Trust, Fifth Third

Regionals Outperform ‘Old Name’ New York Institutions

Bedminster, N.J. (4 March 2003) - Chicago, IL-based Northern Trust and Fifth Third Bancorp, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, emerge as the reputation leaders among 21 leading banking institutions assigned Reputation Ratings by Rating Research LLC (RRC), a reputation rating agency. Each company receives a Reputation Rating of AA, RRC’s second highest rating and one that indicates a high-quality reputation in the informed opinion of RRC experts.

On the basis of extensive market research, Northern Trust and Fifth Third are viewed favorably by both industry senior executives and financial analysts, who rank them among the highest on “perception as an excellent company”. One analyst sums up the widespread opinion that “Northern Trust is a very high performing, focused company”. Similarly, Fifth Third is viewed as an innovative company with a strong sales culture. BB&T, headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C. also performs very well, receiving a Reputation Rating of A.

“It’s interesting that New York is no longer perceived as the reputation stronghold of the banking industry, with future leaders emerging from other geographic areas,” said Dory Gasorek, RRC’s Rating Committee Chair. “Clearly, some of the Northeastern banks have been tarnished by negative press and allegations of scandal, but regional players rate highly because they are recognized as having excellent leadership and well-focused strategies.”

RRC’s Reputation Ratings are shorthand opinions, assigned on the basis of quantitative data from primary research with industry executives and financial analysts, the industry expertise of Rating Committee members, and other information streams including an analysis of media coverage for each of the rated banking institutions.

PNC, KeyCorp and U.S. Bancorp Lag Behind

PNC Financial, KeyCorp and U.S. Bancorp consistently rank in the lowest tier on most reputation dimensions among the companies studied and are among six banking institutions that receive a “lower-medium quality” reputation rating of BB. Pittsburgh, PA-headquartered PNC performs particularly poorly, generating the lowest reputation strength ranking of all surveyed companies based on the responses of industry executives.

“PNC has faced several problems in the past year related to management, strategic direction and ethical business practices that have severely damaged its reputation with both industry executives and the financial community,” noted Ms. Gasorek.

U.S. Bancorp (Minneapolis, MN), ranking 20th among the 21 banks studied in reputation strength, shows modestly better support amongst financial analysts than industry executives but generates mixed opinions on its acquisition strategy. One executive said: “U.S. Bancorp does not know what it wants to be when it grows up.”

Industry Reputation ‘Average’ Overall

Overall, the banking industry performs “average”, with 33% of the companies assigned “medium quality” Reputation Ratings of BBB and 29% rated BB, indicating less than average reputation luster.

Furthermore, an average of 30% of executives indicate they would be “personally willing to invest in” the banks studied, while even fewer (21%), indicate that they would be “willing to support these banks in times of controversy”. These results are comparable to those seen in RRC’s Department Store and Discount Retailing study but lower than those achieved in the Pharmaceutical and Electric Power studies.

“RRC’s findings on the reputation strength of the banking industry suggest real challenges for many of the banks that wish to continue to extend their franchises,” said Ms. Gasorek.

RRC, a joint venture between The Ratrix Group and Opinion Research Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCI), assigns Reputation Ratings to leading companies and publishes those rating opinions as a public service. Ratings and industry highlights may be found at RRC’s website, www.ratingresearch.com.

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For more information on RRC’s Corporate Reputation Ratings contact Jane Barr.