NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) July 21, 2000--Standard&Poor's today affirmed its ratings on Honeywell International Inc. (A/Stable/A-1) following the company's announcement that it will repurchase up to 40 million shares of its common stock, representing about $1.5 billion at today's market price. The share buyback program should be substantially completed by the end of 2001. The firm will fund the repurchase with internally generated funds and the proceeds from the sale of noncore businesses. The decision to buy back shares over time rather than in a single transaction and to finance them partly with proceeds from divestitures is viewed by Standard&Poor's as an indication of Honeywell's balanced financial policy and commitment to maintain credit protection
