Tyco is doing just fine without Kozlowski

Dennis Kozlowski is everywhere these days. CNBC featured an interview with the former Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) chief executive from jail where he spoke about the difficulty in doing hard time and how he's helping his fellow inmates earn their GEDs. A Wall Street Journal editorial recently argued that Kozlowski was "railroaded" and that "living large isn't a crime."

Funny thing is that his former company seems to be doing just fine unwinding the empire that Kozlowski built. The conglomerate, which is splitting up into three separate companies, today reported better-than-expected third quarter results. Net income was $181 million, or 36 cents per share. Excluding one-time items, profit was $285 million, or 57 cents. Revenue jumped $5.03 billion. The results beat Wall Street consensus estimates of 55-cent profit on revenue of $4.97 billion.

Shares of Tyco are down $1.11, or 2.82%, to $38.20 because Tyco's yearly guidance for profit of $2.50 to $2.65 a share was below the $2.62 analysts had projected.

In a conference call with analysts, Kozlowski's replacement Ed Breen said the company was "cautiously optimistic" about its outlook for 2008, according to Bloomberg News. The company's revenue growth of 5.4%, which beat Tyco's estimates, was particularly impressive.

Shares of Tyco, which are down about 18% over the past year, are trading at near their 52-week low. Do some investors miss Kozlowski? Maybe. But if the world never learned about $6,000 shower curtains and tacky birthday parties, "Deal a Day Dennis" probably would have been forced to split up the company he cobbled together through acquisitions. Conglomerates, including General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), are no longer the darlings that they once were on Wall Street.