NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Feb. 15, 2000--Standard&Poor's today affirmed its triple-'B'-plus long-term corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings, as well as its 'A-2' short-term corporate credit and commercial paper ratings, for Whirlpool Corp. The triple-'B'-plus corporate credit rating and triple-'B'-minus preferred stock rating for Whirlpool Financial Corp. also were affirmed. The outlook is stable. Total debt outstanding at Dec. 31, 1999 was approximately $1.4 billion. The affirmation follows the company's announcement that its Board of Directors has authorized a $750 million increase to its share repurchase program (total is now $1 billion), which Whirlpool expects to complete over the next 18 months. Standard&Poor's expects that free cash flow generated over this time horizon
