S&P cuts Hewlett-Packard

Standard & Poor's said it lowered the corporate credit and senior unsecured ratings on Hewlett-Packard Co. to BBB+ from A, along with its short-term rating to A-2 from A-1.

The agency also said it removed the ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications in August.

The outlook is stable.

The downgrade reflects liquidity and financial flexibility that have been reduced by more aggressive financial policies, including the use of leverage to fund the recent $10.2 billion Autonomy acquisition, S&P said.

The agency said it has concerns that the company's inconsistent growth strategies and high levels of senior management turnover have elevated the level of operational and execution risk in the near term.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.