BHP Billiton has been acknowledged as the world's most respected resources company in the annual Financial Times/Price Waterhouse Coopers World's Most Respected Companies Survey.

BHP Billiton was awarded the accolade ahead of USS-POSCO and Rio Tinto. International Paper finished fourth, with Alcoa fifth and Barrick Gold sixth.

This is the fourth year of the internationally acclaimed survey, which included contributions from a record number of respondents — 914 CEOs from 65 different countries.

The CEOs were asked to nominate the three companies in the world they most respected and why. They were then asked to select the three companies they most respected in their industry sector. Next, each chief executive was asked to identify which three business leaders they most respected and why.

For the first time this year, CEOs were also asked another set of questions, designed to identify companies that best delivered on specific value areas. These questions were: First, which three companies created the most value for their consumers? Second, which three companies created the most value for shareholders? And third, which three companies best managed environmental resources?

This is the first time BHP Billiton has been included in the survey following the merger of the two companies in June 2001.

General Electric was voted the world's most respected company overall, with Microsoft second and IBM third.

Further information about the Financial Times/Price Waterhouse Coopers survey can be found at http://specials.ft.com/wmr2001/index.html.