The chairman of Bermuda-based Tyco International yesterday affirmed his company's commitment to Bermuda and said he would like to expand the company's operations on the Island.

Speaking to The Royal Gazette after the company's annual general meeting yesterday, Chairman and Chief Executive Dennis Kozlowski, confirmed that when the company is split into four, all four companies will be based in Bermuda.

The company, which has seen its share price nosedive after questions arose over its accounting practices in the wake of the collapse of Enron and concerns about the pace of the break up, laid off six staff in its Bermuda subsidiary Tycom, and there had been fears that the offices on the Island might contract further.

“The offices here are going very well,” Mr. Kozlowski said. “We would love to expand in Bermuda with more functions and using the services of local firms.”

But he said he as yet had no plans to buy a house in Bermuda, and would continue to stay at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess during his visits. The company has about 25 employees in Bermuda and has offices in the Zurich building on Pitts Bay Road.

Mr. Koslowski was in Bermuda for the company's annual general meeting at the Hamilton Princess. A handful of shareholders joined the 11 board members and international press had flown in for the event.

Reuters, The Boston Globe and Associated Press swelled the numbers of the normally quiet meeting expecting the board to get a grilling from shareholders.

But there was no angry shouting about Tyco's nearly $60 billion loss in market value this year and few questions about the conglomerate's accounting practices, with one analyst in the crowd asking about the different payments made to PricewaterhouseCoopers, Tyco's accountants.

And after the meeting Mr. Kozlowski fended off questions about what they do when the board fly in for meetings.

He said: “We only work when we're here.

“We never play golf. We never play tennis. We started our meetings yesterday from 2 p.m. We ended them at 11.30 last night. We had our annual meeting today and we're going back over to begin a meeting which should last about another three or four hours.”

Greg Kinczewski, of The Marco Consulting Group, who represents 6.3 million shares in Tyco, was one of the few shareholder representatives to fly in from the United States for the event.

“This is one of the biggest financial statements that have been published,” he said after the meeting. “The shareholder is gradually becoming more powerful.”

And he said that while historically shareholders normally lost out, they were now becoming more powerful in the running of businesses.

“We try to give them some good advice,” he added. “Their statements have been complicated and we are sure glad that they are going to be different.”

The company, which makes devices from fire alarms to clothes hangers, has asked shareholders to come to this lush venue at a time the collapse of energy trader Enron Corp has made investors fearful about corporate ethics and accounting practices. Enron went bankrupt after using intricate off-balance-sheet transactions to hide losses and hype profits.

Topics on the agenda at this meeting included the reappointment of Tyco auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers and the election of its board.