On June 25, 2002, Standard&Poor's revised its outlook on Precision Castparts Corp. to stable from negative. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its ratings, including the 'BBB-'/'A-3' corporate credit ratings, on the company. The outlook revision reflects the commercial aerospace manufacturer's stronger credit protection measures, stemming from debt reduction and solid operating performance in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2002. A focus on cash flow generation, enhanced by a more effective working capital management, should allow further debt reduction. As a result, the financial profile is expected to be appropriate for the ratings, despite softness in several markets. The funds from operations to debt ratio should be in the 25%-30% range and debt to capital
