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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StanX Long who wrote (61728)	3/8/2002 1:17:31 AM
From: StanX Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

HP ratings cut, still on CreditWatch negative host.wallstreetcity.com NEW YORK, Mar 07, 2002 (AFX-Europe via COMTEX) -- NEW YORK (AFX) - Standard & Poor's Corp said it cut the corporate credit and senior debt ratings on Hewlett-Packard Co to A- from AA- and lowered its commercial paper rating to A-2 from A-1+. The ratings remain on CreditWatch negative where they were placed on Sept 4. In a separate statement, HP said it is "disappointed" with S&P's decision. "HP's planned merger with Compaq Computer Corp addresses many of the issues raised by S&P by significantly improving our market positions and be creating a healthy PC business capable of generating significant cash," said HP treasurer Larry Tomlinson. S&P said the downgrade reflects its "view of HP's business and financial risk profile pro forma for the completion of the merger with Compaq Computer Corp." And it added that irrespective of the company's proposed merger with Compaq, HP's rating will be lower based on challenges in the company's computer hardware business as well as potential business and management disruption if the merger does not happen. Ratings of Compaq remain on CreditWatch with developing implications, where they were placed Dec. 13, meaning they could be revised upward or downward, S&P said. Compaq's corresponding ratings are BBB/Watch Dev/A-2, the S&P statement noted.