Pre-Paid Shares Fall as President Resigns, New Memberships Fall
Ada, Oklahoma, Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Pre-Paid Legal Services
Inc., a seller of legal insurance, said Chief Executive Harland
Stonecipher replaced Wilburn Smith as president of the company
after new memberships declined. The shares fell 27 percent.
Smith, a 22-year employee of Pre-Paid and the president since
1997, resigned, Pre-Paid said in a statement distributed by PR
Newswire. Melanie Lawson, a spokeswoman for the company, didn't
immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
The Ada, Oklahoma-based company said the number of new
members to its service fell during the last three months of the
year. New memberships for Pre-Paid dropped 5.6 percent from the
year-earlier period to 169,350 during the fourth quarter, the
company said in a statement. New sales associates enrolled in the
period declined 24 percent.
Pre-Paid shares dropped as low as $19 at 4:32 p.m. New York
time in after-hours trading following the announcement. The shares
fell 44 cents to $26.18 at the 4 p.m. close of the New York Stock
Exchange.
--William Selway in the San Francisco newsroom at (415) 743-3511,
or wselway@bloomberg.net. Editor: Todd.
Story Illustration: To compare Pre-Paid Legal Services shares in
the past year to benchmark indexes, type:
{PPD US <Equity> COMP D <GO>}. For a scrolling tour of functions
about the company, see {CNP08806580101<GO>}. |
