Ryanair lifted by BA taunt as Airbus jumbo hits rut

The Dublin-headquartered airline also shrugged off surging oil prices to record a 19 per cent rise in annual profits.

Meanwhile, Airbus's admission that production of its A380 'super-jumbo' was up to six months behind schedule caused a stir among airlines at the front of the company's order book. Qantas, Air France, Emirates and Singapore Airlines are considering compensation claims; Virgin Atlantic is seeking 'urgent talks'.

Nationwide moved into the top five with a EUR14bn (£9.4bn) borrowing programme raised against its mortgage book. Like Asda, it is also allowing staff to work until the age of 75.

PartyGaming snatched fourth place after announcing plans for a London Stock Exchange flotation. Early estimates put its valuation at around £5.8bn.

Enron fell to the foot of the table after its auditor, Arthur Andersen, had its conviction for obstruction of justice overturned on appeal by the US Supreme Court.

Reputation Monitor is compiled from Thompson Intermedia's National News Index, a measure of media sentiment that excludes stock market reports and passing mentions.

REPUTATION MONITOR 31 May-6 June 2005

RANKING Rank last week Organisation NNI

BEST PERFORMERS

1 10 Ryanair 166.5

2 2 Asda 159.6

3 1 Tesco 159.4

4 n/a PartyGaming 102.9

5 21 Nationwide 60.5

WORST PERFORMERS*

1 5 Enron -65.7

2 43 Northern Foods -42.4

3 290 Airbus -40

4 4 MG Rover -31.2

5 28 Jarvis Group -25.4

Source: www.newsmetrics.co.uk/Thomson Intermedia plc *Rank last week is

position from bottom of table.