NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 22, 2003--Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) (A-/Stable/A-1) recently announced that its board of directors authorized an additional $1 billion for common stock share repurchases. Standard&Poor's Ratings Services does not expect the share repurchase authorization to have an impact on HP's ratings or outlook. HP is expected to maintain its strong financial profile and very substantial liquidity. The current rating incorporates the expectation that share repurchases will be funded from free cash flow and will not materially exceed zero-dilution levels. For the nine months ended July 31, 2003, HP generated free operating cash flow in excess of $1.6 billion, while stock repurchases, net of issuance under employee stock plans, was about $108 million.
