ADA, Okla., April 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. (NYSE: PPD), reported new memberships produced and new sales associates enrolled for the 2009 first quarter. During the 1st quarter of 2009, new sales associates enrolled decreased 7.5% compared to the first quarter of 2008. Memberships produced decreased by 12.6% while new membership fees written decreased by 13.0% and our active membership base decreased 2.5% compared to the comparable period of the previous year.
On a sequential quarterly basis, new associates enrolled decreased 26.6%, new memberships produced decreased 7.6%, new membership fees written decreased 7.9% and our active membership base decreased by 32,091 memberships.
Three Months Ended
------------------
New Memberships: 3/31/2009 12/31/2008 3/31/2008
---------------- --------- ---------- ---------
New legal service membership
sales 117,635 124,629 131,862
New 'stand-alone' IDT
membership sales 4,960 8,012 8,337
Total new membership sales 122,595 132,641 140,199
======= ======= =======
New 'add-on' IDT membership
sales 72,850 85,221 81,263
Average Annual Membership fee $319.86 $321.00 $321.47
Active Memberships:
-------------------
Active legal service
memberships at end of period 1,438,519 1,469,315 1,481,531
Active 'stand-alone' IDT
memberships at end of period
(see note below) 88,544 89,839 85,428
Total active memberships at
end of period 1,527,063 1,559,154 1,566,959
========= ========= =========
Active 'add-on' IDT
memberships at end of period
(see note below) 671,850 680,862 641,997
New Sales Associates:
---------------------
New sales associates recruited 23,871 32,533 25,800
Average enrollment fee paid by
new sales associates $119.17 $49.02 $94.71
Average Membership fee in
force:
-------
Average Annual Membership fee $300.81 $300.80 $298.54
Note - reflects 4,777 net transfers from 'add-on' status to 'stand-alone'
status during the quarter
Our total active membership fees in force decreased approximately 1.8% during the last twelve months.
