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A short seller just released a report on an advertising company and the stock is falling like a stone

Linette Lopez   

A short seller just released a report on an advertising company and the stock is falling like a stone
Finance2 min read

Gotham City Research released a short report on MDC Partners on Friday, and the stock is down 11% after falling as much as 16%.

MDC Partners is an international advertising and marketing firm.

mdc partners stock chart

Yahoo Finance

MDC Partners on Friday

Gotham generated a whole laundry list of grievances against the company, slamming its growth numbers, saying that it understates its debt, and pointing out a bunch of executive departures.

Here are a few of the highlights:

  • 2015 organic revenue growth is ~1.5%, not 7.2% as reported. Organic growth well below industry averages.
  • MDCA's true Debt is understated by ~$300 million, or 23% of stated Debt as of 2015.
  • At least 42%-53% of reported profits are suspect.
  • 7+ executive departures within recent quarters. At most 3 of Crispin Porter Bogursky's original 13 partners remain.
  • BDO and David Wiener & Co are quasi-captive entities MDCA used to structure its dubious accounting strategies.
  • Tax deductible intangibles and goodwill have declined from 100% tax deductible in 2013 to only 16% in 2015.

Business Insider tried calling the MDC Partners switchboard in New York and Toronto, but couldn't get hold off anyone. We'll update this post if we hear back.

You can check out the full report here.

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