Valeant Providing Reporters With an Earnings Metric the SEC Ordered it to Stop Using

The Securities and Exchange Commission told Valeant to clean up its use of nonstandard earnings numbers, but the company is now sending reporters the number the regulator told it to stop putting in its filings.

The move comes following the Quebec-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals accounting and drug-pricing scandal, during which time the company’s share price fell to just above $14 from an all-time high of $257.53 in July 2015. In addition to legal and regulatory issues, executive turnover, activist meddling and accusations of accounting fraud from short sellers, Valeant has tangled with the SEC on a number of issues including its use of nonstandard metrics to explain its unique business model.