announced that rumours of accounting irregularities are "false, unfounded and malicious''.

Tyco's shares nose-dived on Wednesday, amid a general fall in the Dow Jones industrial index of about 200 points. Before trading in Tyco stock was halted because of "an order imbalance'', the shares had fallen 7 and 3/8 on the day to reach $96 on the New York Stock Exchange. Its stock had previously shown steady growth over the last year, from 47-1 a year ago to Tuesday's close of 103-3/8. The company stated there is no corporate development that would justify the irregular trading sparked by the rumours.

Tyco blasts rumours The company is requesting that the SEC and NYSE identify the source of the rumours and take appropriate action.

L. Dennis Kozlowski, Tyco's chairman and chief executive officer, said: "I heard the reports being circulated about our company, and I can state unequivocally that they are false and baseless. Because we take our commitment to our shareholders and our reputation very seriously, we will pursue this matter until we are satisfied that both have been adequately protected.'' Mr.

Kozlowski added: "We are confident results for our fourth fiscal quarter, to be reported next week, should exceed consensus earnings estimates. We also are comfortable with the consensus earnings estimates for fiscal year 2000. The strength of our earnings is further enhanced by our focus on the generation of free cash flow.'' Wall Street analysts expect the company to post fourth-quarter profits of $0.89 per share and $3.03 per share for the year, according to earnings forecast firm First Call/Thomson Financial.

David Tice, a Dallas-based researcher who wrote a report that apparently might have helped spark the sell-off, said he is not charging Tyco with anything illegal or improper under established accounting standards.

Rather, he said, his sell recommendation was based on the belief that Wall Street has been blinded by billions of dollars in special charges the acquisition-hungry company has taken in recent years.

"We just said they took all these charges and benefited,'' said Mr. Tice of David W. Tice & Associates, a Dallas firm. "Maybe that's not as exciting as saying improper accounting practices. That doesn't mean it's an impropriety or against (accounting standards). We are just saying that Wall Street has been looking at earnings before charges.'' Mr. Tice's report was sent out Friday and received by institutional investor clients on Monday. However, Tyco shares did not react until Wednesday, as news of the report filtered out into the market.

One analyst who saw Mr. Tice's report disagreed with it, saying the drop in stock price was unjustified. "It's a bad report and the more I look at it the worse it gets,'' said Jack Blackstock, analyst with Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Securities. "I don't think (Tyco) wants to wallow in the mud, but they can't ignore this,'' said Mr. Blackstock.