Standard & Poor's said today that the ratings and outlook on PepsiCo Inc (A/Stable/A-1) would not be affected following the announcement that PepsiCo's board has authorized a new share repurchase program to buy back $5 billion worth of stock over the next three years. Standard & Poor's views PepsiCo and its bottlers as a system and analytically reconsolidates key bottlers. While share repurchases reduce financial flexibility within the Pepsi system for acquisitions and investments, creditor protection measures for the Pepsi system are expected to remain at very strong levels. In addition, Standard & Poor's believes that PepsiCo's share repurchases will be funded largely from internally generated cash flow and existing cash balances. (Cash and short-term investments totaled $2.0 billion at
