Tyco International Ltd. reported a $3.55 billion loss for the third quarter as it pays for lawsuits and breakup costs tied to its former convicted chief executive officer L. Dennis Kozlowski.

Tyco International Ltd. reported today a $3.55 billion loss for the third quarter as it pays for lawsuits and breakup costs tied to its former convicted chief executive officer.

Tyco settled a $3.31 billion shareholder lawsuit in the quarter over the misdeeds of L. Dennis Kozlowski, the company’s former CEO convicted of stealing $600 million from the company. Kozlowski was sentenced in 2005 to serve at least eight years in prison, but the term could be as long as 25 years.

The loss compares with $868 million in net income for the third quarter of 2006. Third-quarter revenue increased 7.8 percent to $5.09 billion from $4.72 billion, above the company’s forecast of 5.5 to 6.5 percent growth.

The results marked the first reported by Tyco since completing the spin-off of its health care and electronics businesses last June. The results reported today only include Tyco International divisions, which include fire and safety products, flow controls and security systems.

Operating earnings for Tyco’s flow control business increased 43 percent to $124 million on a 22 percent increase in sales.

Tyco said it expected sales would be up 6 to 7 percent for the fourth quarter and estimated an operating profit.