The share price of publisher Reed Elsevier is still depressed, following claims by a Dutch lobby group that the group had overstated its profits.

Reed, which employs several hundred people in north Oxford and Kidlington, called the accusation "baseless".

The price recovered after crashing on Friday when the allegations were made, but is still more than three per cent down on its price a week ago.

The allegations were made by the Foundation for the Investigation of Corporate Information (SOBI), a small Dutch group campaigning for greater transparency.

The group objects to the way Reed Elsevier has described its "amortisation", a method of writing off "goodwill".

In this case it is the difference between the £3bn that Reed paid last year for US publisher Harcourt and what it is worth.

SOBI claims Reed changed its accounts by paying for goodwill over 40 years, rather than the previous 20 years.

The group, which holds five shares in Reed Elsevier, wants Reed to cancel its 2001 annual report and accounts and restate them.

A spokesman for Reed Elsevier said City analysts did not rate amortisation a big issue. She said: "SOBI is more or less a one-man band.

"It took out a case against Dutch telecoms group KPN, but had to abandon it."