Bermuda-based industrial conglomerate Tyco International Inc. will no longer be splitting into four separate companies, management announced yesterday.

The company, which has its global headquarters on Pitts Bay Road and employs more than 20 people on the Island, also took a $3.3 billion charge, and said it will close 24 factories and eliminate 7,100 jobs, primarily in its electronics and telecommunications businesses.

At press time last night a company spokesperson had not returned calls to see if the restructuring would in any way affect the Bermuda office.

Tyco said yesterday it was a mistake to split into four companies, and posted a $1.9 billion quarterly loss on big charges for fallen technology investments.

This included a $3.3 billion charge and ended a ten-year run of improved earnings for the company.

Dennis Kozlowski, chairman and chief executive officer, took full responsibility for the failed break up and said that it had "distracted and damaged the business".

He added during a conference call: "In hindsight, the break-up plan was a mistake."

Tyco's stock fell more than 20 percent to its lowest price since October 1998, also said it would sell a financial services unit, CIT, in a public offering for up to $7.15 billion, far less than the almost $10 billion it paid for last year.

Mr. Kozlowski said: "While our goal in changing the strategy was to do right by our shareholders, we came up with the wrong solution."

He added: "In retrospect it is now clear that we took the market by surprise with our announcement and failed to take into account the extraordinarily fragile market psychology and hostile environment.

"As your chief executive officer, I take full responsibility and am aware that Tyco's management has let you down."

The company, that makes everything from diapers to burglar alarms, was once considered one of the world's leading industrial conglomerates which went through a spate of taking over many companies. Mr. Kozlowski said he doesn't expect to make any more acquisitions in fiscal 2002.

Tyco said it would now push forward as a conglomerate, scuppering plans announced on January 22 to split into four publicly traded companies.

Tyco had said the split was a way to unlock tens of billions of dollars in shareholder value but instead, more than $70 billion in the company's market capitalisation has been erased since January.

The company also cut its earnings forecast for fiscal 2002, which ends September 30, and said it would cut the 7,100 jobs - about three percent of its work force.

Including the latest round, Tyco has initiated plans since October 2000 to cut nearly 30,000 jobs and close or consolidate more than 950 facilities.

Tyco's stock was the most active on the New York Stock Exchange, trading more than three times as much as the second most-active issue. The stock closed down $5.15, or 19.9 percent, at $20.75.

In an interview, Mr. Kozlowski said he has the full support of Tyco's board, which he said never discussed his resignation. Kozlowski has been with Tyco 27 years, the past ten as chief executive officer.

"There's absolutely no talk, no indications, no anything about any kind of change or leaving the company," he said. He added that resigning has never crossed his mind.

While Mr. Kozlowski took full responsibility for the strategic blunder, he also fixed blame on media reports detailing investor concerns about its accounting practices.