On Sept. 15, 2003, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its ratings, including the 'BBB-/A-3' corporate credit ratings, on Precision Castparts Corp. The ratings are removed from CreditWatch, where they were placed on Aug. 18, 2003. The outlook is stable. Outstanding debt is about $700 million, which will increase to $1.2 billion-$1.25 billion upon the acquisition of SPS Technologies Inc., scheduled to close in the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2003. The affirmation is based on credit protection measures that are expected to remain overall appropriate for the ratings, with funds from operations to debt about 30% and debt to capital in the 35%-40% range in the intermediate term. Precision Castparts' planned issuance of common stock to fund 50% of SPS
