Activist investor Starboard Value rattled Perrigo Co. on Mondaywith a scathing criticism of the drug company's management. A lookat Perrigo's financials reveals one way management has excelled:Making its results look good.

Quarter after quarter, the Dublin, Ireland-based maker ofgeneric drugs relied on one-time expenses and novel terms like“organic net sales” to highlight a string of profits on its ownadjusted terms. In its full-year 2015 report, Perrigo listed $1.09billion in adjusted profit. The word “loss” was used sparingly,despite a net loss of $33 million using non-adjusted accountingthat adheres to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, known asGAAP.

It was the biggest percentage disparity last year betweenadjusted and GAAP figures among companies in the Standard &Poor's 500 index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.