Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Jeff Meuler: Yeah. Thank you. Just first on backup care strength, I guess, it feels like I’m asking the same question as last quarter, which is you keep calling for deceleration and then the business keeps outperforming. So I can understand like why the Stephen case outsized growth from this last quarter won’t repeat. But just help me out with like any other factors like the percentage of use banks that are exhausted at this point of the year relative to what that metric typically is? Or just any other constraining factors on the growth because otherwise, it’s looking like maybe you’re set up for a couple of years of potentially stronger post-COVID growth given all the clients you signed on during COVID?

Elizabeth Boland: So, thanks, Jeff. The — I think you’re pointing to some of the factors that do come into the overall mix is our clients have — a number of our clients have arrangements with us that are essentially on a pay-per-use basis or have a base level fee and then you paying for use over a minimum threshold. And so there’s a — there’s an opportunity, of course, for more users at a client to be utilizing backup care. But for the most part, clients do have a constraint, if you will, on how much an individual employee can utilize. And so given the usage that we have seen through the first nine months, those baskets for the individual employees have largely been consumed for those that are the primary users through the first nine months.

So that is what gives us some pause about just continued growth across a whole new cohort, we will certainly have some new users and be reaching out to all of those opportunities. But I think our view is that with the — sort of the pull into the summertime with all of the school ages and the concentration of a week or two at a time of use for those parents that they’re has been more consumption in earlier in the year for those heavier users. So I think the — we don’t want to have a great story sound negative. It has been a terrific growth trajectory a couple of years now of 30% growth plus in the third quarter. And the components of the way that this business is seasonal is sort of amplified by the numbers of clients who are seasoning in to their use banks.

And as they consume the different use care types, we have the opportunity to make that more year round, but that’s our outlook for the first day of November.

Jeff Meuler: Okay. I guess I’ll see if I’m asking that question again next quarter. On full-service margins, just anything else that’s weighing margin down relative to expectations in the quarter besides UK staffing and enrollment levels. I ask because it looks like there’s a decent shortfall despite revenue upside, and I would think the stronger enrollment growth will be coming at high incremental margins given the excess capacity that you currently have.

Elizabeth Boland: Yeah, I mean it’s totally fair call and I think other than the UK which certainly has been challenged and even slightly more challenged than we — our outlook had been last time we talked to you all, so we’ve sort of further refined that for the third quarter’s actual results and how we see it coming in the fourth quarter. But I think the only other thing I’d note is that, with the higher concentration the growth of the infants and toddler age groups, which is a positive to the long-term enrollment story that comes at a higher intensity ratio and a higher cost structure as well. And so that’s probably the other component that I’d lay out in terms of the labor costs element.

Jeff Meuler: Okay. Thank you.

Elizabeth Boland: Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from Manav Patnaik of Barclays. Please go ahead.

Manav Patnaik: Thank you. Elizabeth just a follow-up on that and I apologize if I missed it, but can you just help us with your operating margin expectations for the three segments to know if anything’s changed I suppose since the last quarter.