S&P: Schlumberger unchanged

The ratings on Schlumberger Ltd. (A+/stable/A-1) and Schlumberger Technology Corp. (A+/stable/A-1) will remain unchanged following the group's report of second-quarter results, which included an announcement that the company's board of directors had approved a program to repurchase up to 15 million common shares before December 2006.

Standard & Poor's said it had contemplated that Schlumberger would apply a large portion of excess operating cash flow toward share repurchases when it revised its outlook on the ratings for Schlumberger and its affiliates to stable on July 8.

S&P said the Schlumberger group's financial profile is strong for its ratings, the share repurchase program should be funded largely from free operating cash flow, and the program is not expected to increase the group's net debt leverage above $2 billion, which is Schlumberger's targeted long-term debt.

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