Europe's largest laboratory operator Synlab has been targeted by Portuguese antitrust watchdogs.

The Autoridade da Concorrência (AdC) has initiated proceedings against several medical diagnostics providers, including Synlab, Synlab announced in Munich. This weighed on the Synlab share, which is listed on the SDax and fell by five percent to 11.00 euros on Thursday. At times it was at an all-time low. A year ago, it was still worth a good twice as much. The AdC suspected that two Portuguese Synlab subsidiaries "may have violated competition law" with competitors and an industry association between 2016 and March of last year, the statement said.

According to analysts at investment bank Jefferies, the investigations may have weighed on sentiment, but they are not fundamentally significant. At 117 million euros, Synlab generated only three percent of its turnover in Portugal in 2021. The Munich-based company itself stated: "Synlab takes these allegations very seriously." The outcome of the proceedings and the fine Synlab could face remains to be seen. The company will examine the objections and then decide on further steps. Synlab subsidiaries in other countries are not affected by the investigation.

(Report by Alexander Hübner; Assistance: Anika Ross. Edited by Christian Götz. If you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)