ADA, Okla., April 1, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. , reported new memberships produced and new sales associates enrolled for the 2008 first quarter. During the 1st quarter of 2008, new sales associates enrolled decreased 16.9% compared to the first quarter of 2007. Memberships produced decreased by 13.2% while new membership fees written decreased by 10.6% and our active membership base increased 1.0% compared to the comparable period of the previous year.
On a sequential quarterly basis, new associates enrolled decreased 28.4%; new memberships produced decreased 6.6%, new membership fees written decreased 6.6% and our active membership base decreased by 8,843 memberships.
Three Months Ended
New Memberships: 3/31/2008 12/31/2007 3/31/2007
New legal service membership sales 131,862 139,282 147,742
New "stand-alone" IDT membership sales 8,337 10,818 13,788
Total new membership sales 140,199 150,100 161,530
New "add-on" IDT membership sales 81,263 94,945 93,204
Average Annual Membership fee $321.47 $321.32 $309.86
Active Memberships:
Active legal service memberships at
end of period 1,481,531 1,492,341 1,477,604
Active "stand-alone" IDT
memberships at end of period
(see note below) 85,428 83,461 73,525
Total active memberships at
end of period 1,566,959 1,575,802 1,551,129
Active "add-on" IDT memberships
at end of period (see note below) 641,997 631,910 562,075
New Sales Associates:
New sales associates recruited 25,800 36,029 31,043
Average enrollment fee paid by new
sales associates $94.71 $48.99 $103.13
Average Membership fee in force:
Average Annual Membership fee $298.54 $297.62 $294.17
Note -- reflects 5,210 net transfers from "add-on" status to
"stand-alone" status during the quarter
Our total active membership fees in force increased approximately 2.5% during the last year and continue our trend of increasing our membership fees. Membership persistency rate (defined as the number of memberships in force at the end of a 12 month period as a percentage of the total of memberships in force at the beginning of such period, plus new memberships sold during such period) was 73.2% for the 12 month period ended March 31, 2008 -- an increase from the 72.1% for the 12 month period ended March 31, 2007.
Our first quarter 2008 corporate finance focus has again been on share repurchases. During the 1st quarter, we returned $12.9 million to shareholders through the repurchase of 279,336 shares of common stock, at an average per share price of $46.08. Since April 1999, we have returned $375.3 million to shareholders through the purchase of 13 million shares, average price of $28.93 per share, and $17.1 million in dividends for a combined total of $392.4 million representing more than 115 percent of our net earnings during the same timeframe.
Our Board of Directors has authorized an additional repurchase of 1 million shares, as we have purchased virtually all of our previously announced stock repurchase authorizations totaling 13 million shares. Purchases pursuant to the new repurchase authorization will be made at prices that we consider attractive. We expect to continue purchases after our 2008 first quarter earnings conference call scheduled for April 30, 2008. No time limit has been set for completion of the additional share repurchases.
We anticipate announcing our 2008 first quarter financial results on April 28, 2008 after the market closes. The Company will conduct a conference call to present the first quarter results on Wednesday, April 30, 2008, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The conference call will be webcast on the investor relations' page of http://www.prepaidlegal.com/ or may be accessed by dialing (719) 325-4843. Audio replay will be available beginning at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time on April 30, 2008 and will run through midnight Wednesday, May 7, 2008 by dialing (719) 457-0820; pass code for the replay is 1173479. The presentation will be available on the web site indefinitely by selecting "Earnings Calls" under the "Investor Relations" section. Questions may be submitted prior to the call via email to investor@pplsi.com.
About Us -- We believe our products are one of a kind, life events legal service plans. Our plans provide for legal service benefits provided through a network of independent law firms across the U.S. and Canada, and include unlimited attorney consultation, will preparation, traffic violation defense, automobile-related criminal charges defense, letter writing, document preparation and review and a general trial defense benefit. We have an identity theft restoration product we think is also one of a kind due to the combination of our identity theft restoration partner and our provider law firms. More information about us and our products can be found at our homepage at http://www.prepaidlegal.com/.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release, other than purely historical information, regarding our future plans and objectives and expected operating results, dividends and share repurchases and statements of the assumptions underlying such statements, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements contained herein are based on certain assumptions that may not be correct. They are subject to risks and uncertainties incident to our business that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are described in the reports and statements filed by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including (among others) those listed in our Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K, and include the risks that our membership persistency or renewal rates may decline, that we may not be able to continue to grow our memberships and earnings, that we are dependent on the continued active participation of our principal executive officer, that pending or future litigation may have a material adverse effect on us if resolved unfavorably to us, that we could be adversely affected by regulatory developments, that competition could adversely affect us, that we are substantially dependent on our marketing force, that our stock price may be affected by short sellers, that we have been unable to increase our employee group membership sales and that our active premium in force is not indicative of future revenue as a result of changes in active memberships from cancellations and additional membership sales. Please refer to pages 14 and 15 of our 2007 Form 10-K for a more complete description of these risks. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking statements in this release.
Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.
