ADA, Okla., Aug. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. (NYSE: PPD) has been named one of the 100 Best U.S. companies in the Fifth Annual Best Company Survey by DeMarche Associates, Inc., a leading U.S. Investment Research firm. The award is based on independent DeMarche research which studies the "fundamentals" of more than 3,000 U.S. corporations in terms of growth and risk management factors in maintaining shareholder value. According to the DeMarche report, being one of the top 100 Best Companies places PPD within the top 3 percent of all U.S. corporations.
As one of the Best 100 U.S. companies, Pre-Paid Legal Services shares the spotlight with other notable companies, such as: Best Buy, Costco, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft and Wal-Mart.
"This is excellent news for Pre-Paid Legal Services as it provides confirmation that our company is among the best in the U.S.," said Pre-Paid Legal Services Founder and CEO Harland C. Stonecipher. "This designation also underscores our corporate goal to maintain growth while managing risk."
Over the years, PPD has been recognized for its corporate performance and growth by publications such as, Forbes (list of "Best Small Companies in America" in 2000); Fortune ("America's Fastest Growing Companies" in 1998) and Financial World (number 7 among top 100 U.S. small cap companies in 1996).
The full list of the 100 Best Companies, survey information and methodology is available at the DeMarche Associates web site at www.demarche.com.
About PPD
Pre-Paid Legal Services was one of the first companies in the United States organized solely to design, underwrite and market legal service plans. PPD provides legal service plans to more than 1.5 million families across the U.S. and Canada. Plan benefits are delivered through a network of independent provider law firms. Members have direct, toll-free access to their provider law firm. Provider firms are carefully selected and quality of service is closely monitored to maintain the high standards of Pre-Paid Legal. The company website is: 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 may have compromises of our information security, that during an economic downturn in the economy consumer purchases of discretionary items may be affected which could materially harm our sales, retention rates, profitability and financial condition, 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 15 - 17 of our 2008 Form 10-K and pages 7 and 8 of our June 30, 2009 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.
SOURCE Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.
