NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Feb. 17, 2000--Standard&Poor's today revised its outlook on Precision Castparts Corp. to stable from negative. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its outstanding ratings on the company (see list below). The outlook revision is based on an increasing likelihood that the firm's financial profile will strengthen to a level appropriate for the ratings. The November 1999 debt-financed acquisition of Wyman-Gordon Co. raised Precision Castparts' financial risk and resulted in subpar credit protection measures. Standard&Poor's expects that the company's sizable free cash flow (aided by a reduction in capital spending) will be applied largely to debt reduction, which should improve funds from operations to debt to about 30% and
