NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) July 9, 1999--Standard&Poor's today affirmed its double-'A' long-term corporate credit, senior secured debt, senior unsecured debt, and bank loan ratings for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and removed the ratings from CreditWatch where they had been placed June 14, 1999. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its 'A-1'-plus short-term corporate credit and commercial paper ratings for Wal-Mart; these ratings were not on CreditWatch. The outlook is stable. The affirmation is based on Standard&Poor's assessment that Wal-Mart will restore and maintain its credit ratios to levels reflective of the current rating following its $10.8 billion debt-financed acquisition of Asda Group plc. Asda is the third largest supermarket in the U.K., with
