Bermuda has featured in an article in top American business magazine Forbes, pointing out huge international companies that have moved offshore.

Featured in Friday's edition in an article headed up "Big Companies Based on Little Islands" are ACE, Tyco and Global Crossing, which are all based in Bermuda.

"The beautiful island of Bermuda has no industrial activity to speak of, yet it is the official home of Tyco International, a $29 billion (revenue) conglomerate," the magazine said.It said Tyco had moved its headquarters from New Hampshire to Bermuda in 1997 when it acquired ADT , the security alarm service company, which was headquartered in Bermuda.

It added: "The move to Bermuda has lowered Tyco's cash taxes, which raises its free cash flow."

The article quotes Barry Bannister, securities analyst at Legg Mason Wood Walker as saying: "It's a global company, so having a global average of its tax rate makes more sense than a domestically oriented company with U.S. taxes with a credit for foreign taxes."

It added: "Countries such as Bermuda are considered tax havens, although moving headquarters to a tax haven can incur a huge restructuring cost. And this doesn't mean that Tyco and others can escape taxes in the countries in which they operate, but it does let them take advantage of legal breaks that accrue from having a Bermuda address.

Companies like Tyco that trade on US exchanges must still file with the Securities and Exchange Commission and report earnings according to US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles."

It said much of Tyco's revenue growth is from acquisitions, of which the company made three significant purchases in the past 12 months. It added that analysts reporting to Thomson Financial/IBES expect Tyco's earnings per share to increase an average of 19 percent per year over the next three to five years. Tyco currently trades for 19 times estimated 2001 profits.

The article listed "five decent-sized companies incorporated in tiny foreign countries but have big US operations and trade on US exchanges."

It said all these companies have expected long-term annualised earnings growth of 12 percent or more and market values more than $1 billion.

It quotes Schlumberger, which is incorporated in the Netherland Antilles, but whose oilfield service business is based in Paris.

Garmin, which had its initial public offering in December 2000 and still trades 33 percent above its IPO price, is Cayman Island-based. Garmin manufactures devices that use Global Positioning System technology.

ACE is listed in Bermuda, but Global Crossing is listed as in the Cayman Islands, and headquartered in Bermuda.