[JPLeRouzic]

> "And did you win down those after a few months or 1-2 years, before reporting on the performance of the surviving one?"

My employer (one of the bigger French corporations) from 2005 to 2010 released each year their financial reports showing a 5% revenue gain over the previous year, which was a good performance at the time. Then a few months later, they revised their turnover and reduced it by 5%.

Apparently it was legal, and anyway no one ever commented.

When the next CEO arrived, the turnover in 2011 was reduced by 10% without explanation and again no one commented!