quarter earnings jumped from $207 million for the fourth quarter to $782 million before an extraordinary item.

Bermuda-registered Tyco, a diversified manufacturing and service company, said diluted earnings per share before extraordinary item, for the three months ended September 30, 1999 were 92 cents per share, compared to last year's 25 cents per share.

Sales for the quarter rose 22 percent to $6.22 billion compared with last year's $5.11 billion. Income before acquisition and other non-recurring charges and an extraordinary item for fiscal 1999 rose to $2.56 billion, or $3.06 per diluted share, compared to last year's diluted per share earnings of $1.74. Revenues for fiscal 1999 increased to $22.5 billion, 18 percent higher than last year's $19.1 billion.

"Tyco has delivered another record quarter,'' said L. Dennis Kozlowski, Tyco's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Each of the four business segments demonstrated solid earnings and corresponding cash flow. The Company had record free cash flow (operating cash, which is after cash spent on restructuring items, less capital expenditures and dividends) in excess of $900 million for the quarter. We remain confident in the strong fundamentals which are driving our core revenue, earnings and cash flow growth.''