Standard&Poor's ratings on Honeywell International Inc. (A/Negative/A-1) are unchanged following the announcement that Honeywell has agreed to pay $440 million in cash to Northrop Grumman Corp. to settle antitrust and patent infringement lawsuits. The lawsuits were originally filed against the former Honeywell Inc. more than 11 years ago by Litton Industries Inc., which was acquired by Northrop in 2001. The settlement allows Honeywell to continue to sell ring-laser-gyroscope-based products and certain other inertial reference/navigation systems free from any claims from Northrop. Honeywell's annual revenues from those and related products are about $700 million. This settlement, combined with other items, will result in a fourth-quarter charge of approximately $540 million. Although the charge reduces somewhat Honeywell's financial flexibility, the
