Pre-Paid Legal Services' annual report not timely filed

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Apr 4, 2001 by David Page

Pre-Paid Legal Services on Tuesday said that its Annual Report on Form 10-K required to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission was not timely filed.

The SEC has inquired into Pre-Paid's accounting for commission advances. Ada-based Pre-Paid received additional comments from the SEC staff and is reviewing these comments with its independent public accountants. As a result, Pre-Paid said it was unable to finalize its financial statements for 2000 and has filed an automatic 15-day extension to file its Form 10-K.

In trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Pre-Paid closed at $10.46, down 35 cents. Pre-Paid's 52-week high is $48.75 and the 52-week low is $10.05.

Also on Tuesday, Pre-Paid reported record production and recruiting results for the first quarter. New memberships written increased 12 percent to 183,712 from 163,341 for the first quarter of 2000.

New sales associates recruited during the first quarter increased 61 percent to 34,286 from 21,238 a year earlier.

We continue to benefit from significant positive cash flow while growing our membership base by more than 25 percent, said Harland Stonecipher, chairman. The positive cash flow together with our significant cash and investment balances will allow us to continue our previously announced stock repurchases. We believe the 61 percent increase in recruiting combined with our continued expansion in the U.S. and Canada will supplement our continuing growth.