UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT
TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): October 1, 2008
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Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.
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(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
Oklahoma
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(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)
001-09293 73-1016728
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(Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.)
One Pre-Paid Way
Ada, OK 74820
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(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
(580) 436-1234
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(Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
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(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to
simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the
following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):
|_| Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act
(17 CFR 230.425)
|_| Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17
CFR 240.14a-12)
|_| Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
|_| Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Item 2.02 Results of Operations and Financial Condition
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On October 1, 2008, Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. (the "Company") issued a
press release announcing our membership production and recruiting information
for the three months ended September 30, 2008. A copy of the release is included
as an exhibit to this report.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits
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The following exhibits are included with this report:
Exhibit No. Description
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99.1 Company Press Release dated October 1, 2008
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.
By: /s/ Randy Harp
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Randy Harp, Chief Operating Officer
Date: October 1, 2008
For Immediate Release Company Steve Williamson
Wednesday, October 1, 2008 Contact: (580) 436-1234
Pre-Paid Legal Services Announces 2008 3rd Quarter
Membership And Recruiting Results
ADA, OK, October 1, 2008 - Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. (NYSE: PPD), reported
new memberships produced and new sales associates enrolled for the 2008 third
quarter. During the 3rd quarter of 2008, new sales associates enrolled decreased
13.2% compared to the third quarter of 2007. Memberships produced decreased by
6.0% while new membership fees written decreased by 6.0% and our active
membership base increased 0.1% compared to the comparable period of the previous
year.
On a sequential quarterly basis, new associates enrolled increased 44.9%; new
memberships produced increased 7.9%, new membership fees written increased 6.8%
and our active membership base increased by 9,254 memberships.
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| Three Months Ended |
|New Memberships: 9/30/2008 6/30/2008 9/30/2007 |
|---------------- ----------- ----------- --------- |
|New legal service membership sales.......................................... 137,227 127,804 145,530 |
|New "stand-alone" IDT membership sales...................................... 7,814 6,642 8,771 |
| ----------- ----------- --------- |
| Total new membership sales......................................... 145,041 134,446 154,301 |
| ----------- ----------- --------- |
|New "add-on" IDT membership sales........................................... 95,762 82,623 100,888 |
|Average Annual Membership fee............................................... $326.14 $329.44 $325.98 |
|Active Memberships: |
|-------------------- |
|Active legal service memberships at end of period........................... 1,488,259 1,481,051 1,496,319 |
|Active "stand-alone" IDT memberships at end of period (see note below)...... 87,634 85,588 78,237 |
| ----------- ----------- --------- |
| Total active memberships at end of period.......................... 1,575,893 1,566,639 1,574,556 |
| ----------- ----------- --------- |
|Active "add-on" IDT memberships at end of period (see note below)........... 681,118 658,365 616,919 |
|New Sales Associates: |
|-------------------- |
|New sales associates recruited.............................................. 37,820 26,102 43,555 |
| |
|Average enrollment fee paid by new sales associates......................... $56.17 $98.93 $40.74 |
|Average Membership fee in force: |
|-------------------------------- |
|Average Annual Membership fee............................................... $301.40 $300.46 $297.52 |
| |
|Note - reflects 4,755 net transfers from "add-on" status to "stand-alone" status during the quarter |
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Our total active membership fees in force increased approximately 1.4% 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 73.5% for the 12 month period ended September 30, 2008 an increase
from the 73.3% for the 12 month period ended September 30, 2007.
Our third quarter 2008 corporate finance focus has again been on share
repurchases. During the 3rd quarter, we returned $9.0 million to shareholders
through the repurchase of 205,886 shares of common stock, at an average per
share price of $43.77. Since April 1999, we have returned $399.2 million to
shareholders through the purchase of 13.5 million shares, average price of
$29.52 per share, and $17.1 million in dividends for a combined total of $416.3
million representing more than 115 percent of our net earnings during the same
timeframe.
We anticipate announcing our 2008 third quarter financial results on October 27,
2008 after the market closes. The Company will conduct a conference call to
present the third quarter results on Wednesday, October 29, 2008, at 8:30 a.m.
Eastern Time. The conference call will be webcast on the investor relations'
page of www.prepaidlegal.com. 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
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 and pages 7 and 8 of our June 30, 2008
Form 10-Q for a more complete description of these risks. We undertake no duty
to update any of the forward-looking statements in this release.
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