Investing.com — Madrid-listed shares in Grifols (BME:) fell sharply on Tuesday after U.Ok.-based short-seller Gotham Metropolis Analysis issued a report questioning the validity of the Spanish healthcare agency’s monetary figures.

In a report, Gotham Metropolis argued that Grifols “manipulates” its reported debt and earnings earlier than curiosity, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to “artificially cut back” its reported leverage. The group’s leverage of 6 instances EBITDA, Gotham Metropolis claimed, needs to be nearer to 10 instances to 13 instances.

“Ought to our estimate of the Grifols’ true leverage be right, [Grifols] will face notably greater financing prices,” Gotham Metropolis mentioned. “Consequently, we consider shares are uninvestable, seemingly zero.”

The allegations stem from the sale of two companies — BPC Plasma and Haema — to Scranton Enterprises, a household car. In accordance with Gotham Metropolis, each Grifols and Scranton totally consolidate BPC and Haema onto their monetary statements, a observe that they referred to as “materially misleading and incorrect.”

Grifols shares shed almost $3.83 billion of their market worth at one level within the wake of the fraud allegations.

Nasdaq-listed Grifols, which produces blood plasma-based medicines, advised Spain’s market regulator CNMV that the Gotham Metropolis report amounted to “false info and hypothesis.”

“As an organization dedicated to transparency, integrity, and moral conduct, we categorically deny and reject any allegations of wrongful accounting or reporting practices of our consolidated monetary statements,” Grifols mentioned.

On its web site, Gotham Metropolis describes itself as a gaggle that “focuses on due diligence-based investing,” including that it could have lengthy or brief fairness positions within the corporations it covers.

Based in Barcelona in 1909, Grifols has grown into a world enterprise with operations in over 30 international locations and greater than 24,000 workers.