NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) March 7, 2012—Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it assigned its 'BBB+' senior unsecured rating to multiple tranches of notes to be issued by Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP). The company intends to use the proceeds to reduce commercial paper borrowings, among other general corporate purposes. "The ratings on HP reflect our expectation that the company will maintain its 'strong' business risk profile and 'intermediate' financial risk profile—as defined in our criteria--despite highly competitive market conditions and near-term earnings weakness," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Molly Toll-Reed. The company's strong business profile is based on its leadership position in a number of its markets, global reach, and well-established customer base. With
