Bright Horizons Family Solutions - Earnings Call - Q4 2024

Executive Summary

• Q4 2024 delivered solid top-line growth and sharp profitability improvement year over year: revenue $674.1M (+10% YoY), diluted EPS $0.50 vs $0.09, and adjusted EPS $0.98 (+18% YoY), driven by strong Back-Up Care utilization and improved Full-Service operating leverage.
• Back-Up Care continued to be the growth engine: Q4 revenue $157.2M (+15% YoY) with 33% adjusted operating margin; FY 2024 revenue topped $600M and operating income reached $170M, structurally strengthening the business mix.
• Management introduced FY 2025 guidance of $2.85–$2.90B revenue and $3.95–$4.15 adjusted EPS (15–20% EPS growth), and Q1 2025 guidance of $660–$670M revenue and $0.63–$0.68 adjusted EPS; FX is a ~115 bps headwind to 2025 revenue growth.
• Portfolio optimization and UK turnaround are catalysts: 16 closures in Q4 (net), UK losses narrowed in 2024 with a path to breakeven in 2025, aided by staffing improvements and expanded free entitlement (hours) in H2 2025.
• Potential stock reaction catalysts: durable Back-Up Care momentum and high margins, explicit 2025 EPS growth guidance, share repurchase activity ($85M in Q4) signaling balance sheet strength and capital allocation discipline.

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

• What Went Well

  • Back-Up Care outperformance: Q4 revenue +15% to $157M, adjusted operating margin 33%; FY revenue >$600M and operating income $170M. “Backup Care will be a significant growth engine…for many years” — CEO Stephen Kramer.
  • YoY profitability expansion: Q4 income from operations +71% to $48.2M; diluted EPS $0.50 vs $0.09; adjusted EPS $0.98 vs $0.83.
  • UK operational progress: improved enrollment, staffing, and reduced agency costs; clear path to earnings breakeven in 2025. “We see a clear path to earnings breakeven performance in 2025” — CEO.

• What Went Wrong

  • Sequential revenue step-down and lower Q4 gross margin: Q4 revenue $674.1M vs $719.1M in Q3; gross margin fell to 20.8% given seasonality and impairment charges.
  • Underperforming centers remain a headwind: 16% of centers <40% occupied and loss-making as a group; continued pruning required in 2025.
  • FX and cohort mix constraints: 2025 outlook includes ~115 bps FX headwind; occupancy in the “low 60s” exiting 2024 limits near-term margin expansion pace.

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Greetings and welcome to Bright Horizons Family Solutions Fourth Quarter 2024 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Michael Flanagan, Vice President, Investor Relations. Thank you, Mr. Flanagan. You may begin.

Michael Flanagan (VP of Investor Relations)

Thank you, Sherry, and welcome to Bright Horizons Fourth Quarter earnings call. Before we begin, please note that today's call is being webcast, and the recording will be available under the Investor Relations section of our website, brighthorizons.com. As a reminder to participants, any forward-looking statements made in this call, including those regarding future business, financial performance, and outlook, are subject to the Safe Harbor statement included in our earnings release. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual operating and financial results to differ materially and should be considered in conjunction with the cautionary statements that are described in detail in our earnings release, 2023 Form 10-K, and other SEC filings. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Today, we also refer to Non-GAAP financial measures, which are detailed and reconciled to their GAAP counterparts in our earnings release, which is available under the IR section of our website at investors.brighthorizons.com. Joining me on today's call is our Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Kramer, and our Chief Financial Officer, Elizabeth Boland. Stephen will start by reviewing our results and provide an update on the business. Elizabeth will follow with a more detailed review of the numbers before we open it up to your questions. So with that, let me turn the call over to Stephen.

Stephen Kramer (CEO)

Thanks, Mike, and good evening to everyone on the call. I am pleased with our strong performance in the fourth quarter and how we finished the year. Total revenue and adjusted EPS exceeded our expectations for the quarter, largely driven by the outstanding performance of our backup care segment on the top and bottom line. For the year, total revenue increased by 11%, while adjusted EPS grew by 22%, significantly surpassing our initial projections for the year. We achieved the highest operating income in the company's history, with our backup care segment generating $170 million of EBIT, which represents earnings performance in excess of the contribution of our entire full-service segment prior to the COVID pandemic. This impressive growth, spanning more than 1,100 clients and multiple geographies, has fundamentally changed and strengthened the overall business mix, and we believe the growth trajectory of Bright Horizons for the years ahead.

To get into some of the specifics on the recent quarter, revenue increased 10% to $674 million in Q4, with adjusted EBITDA up 12% to $111 million, and adjusted EPS growing 18% to $0.98 per share. In our full-service childcare segment, revenue increased 8% to $485 million. We added seven centers in the fourth quarter, including client centers for Ragon Institute and St. Jude's Hospital, and our second center in India for Morgan Stanley. For the full year, we opened 26 centers, of which 17 were for client employers, most of which are new to the Bright Horizons Family. Enrollment in centers open for more than one year increased at a low single-digit rate in Q4 across our U.S. and international operations, with average occupancy percentage in the low 60s%, consistent with the prior quarter.

As a reminder, Q3 and Q4 are historically our lowest occupancy quarters due to traditional enrollment seasonality. We are pleased to see our top cohort of centers, nearly 40% of our portfolio, continue to demonstrate very high levels of occupancy, averaging more than 80% in the fourth quarter. As such, our enrollment growth opportunity continues to be concentrated in our middle and bottom cohorts, which saw mid-single-digit enrollment growth in the fourth quarter. With that said, the pace of growth in our underperforming centers remains below our expectations, and we continue to intensify our efforts to drive improved results. In a number of our underperforming centers located in the business district of D.C., New York City, and Seattle, we have seen some early signs that return-to-office policy changes by employers are driving an uptick in enrollment inquiries.

I'm encouraged by the shift in trends we have seen at these locations, and we are well-suited to accommodate families' childcare needs as they readjust to return-to-office mandates. In the U.K., we continue to make operational and financial progress in the fourth quarter, narrowing the losses as compared to last year. For the full year, we delivered much-improved financial and operational performance across our U.K. portfolio on strong enrollment growth, improved center staff retention, and lower agency spend. While the U.K. is still a headwind to our overall full-service margins, I'm encouraged by the steady progress and momentum in the business. We see a clear path to earnings break-even performance in 2025, with continued improvement of results in the years that follow. Let me now turn to backup care, which delivered a strong quarter with 15% revenue growth to $157 million.

Traditional network use trended higher than our expectations as we ended the year with use in center-based and in-home care showing particularly strong growth. We also continue to add to our client base with new employer launches in the fourth quarter, including Harris Health and Lonza. As I mentioned earlier, 2024 was another standout year for backup care. Greater adoption of the backup care benefit among eligible employees drove revenue topping $600 million, with operating income of $170 million. We were pleased to see the continued expansion of the backup care benefit, with more unique users utilizing the benefit and users consuming more of their annual use bank. This increased adoption has been supported by our marketing initiatives, expanded suite of care types, and greater provider availability.

With the momentum we saw exiting the year and the outlook we have for 2025, I remain confident that backup care will be a significant growth engine for the company's top and bottom line for many years. Our education advisory business grew to $32 million in the quarter, and operating margin of 29% ticked up slightly from the same quarter last year. We added new clients to the portfolio, notably launching Atlantic Health System and United Natural Foods, and continue to see more adoption of our student loan repayment product. As this segment continues to execute on its transformation, focused on meeting the evolving, upskilling, and reskilling needs of employers and their employees, we continue to believe in and are investing for the large opportunity available in this market.

Before I wrap up, I want to take a moment to express our heartfelt sympathies for those affected by the devastating fires in Los Angeles. While the overall operational impact for Bright Horizons was quite limited, we have many in our community, employees, families, and clients, who have been significantly impacted. We share the deep sense of loss that permeates across Southern California. Over the past few months, we have witnessed a series of natural disasters and unimaginable tragedies, and I'm very proud of the way our team has stepped up. While our employees are not first responders, they are supporting many who have been called on in the wake of these devastating tragedies.

Looking ahead to 2025, I remain excited about our growth prospects, and I continue to have tremendous confidence in the resiliency of our business model, the strength of our more than 1,450 client relationships, and our ability to drive long-term value to all stakeholders. We enter 2025 with a strong foundation and expect to deliver a range of $2.85 billion-$2.9 billion of revenue. On the earnings side, we are projecting Adjusted EPS of $3.95-$4.15 per share, or growth of approximately 15%-20% for the year. With that, I'll turn the call over to Elizabeth, who will dive into the quarterly numbers and share more details around our 2025 outlook.

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

Thanks, Stephen, and hello to everybody who was able to join the call. To recap the fourth quarter, overall revenue increased 10% to $674 million. Adjusted Operating Income of $79 million, or 11.8% of revenue, increased 25% over Q4 of 2023, while Adjusted EBITDA of $111 million, or 16.4% of revenue, increased 12% over the prior year. We ended the year with 1,019 centers having added seven and closed 16 locations in the fourth quarter. To break this down a bit further, Full-Service revenue was $485 million and was up 8% in Q4 on pricing increases, low single-digit enrollment growth, and approximately 50 basis points of tailwind from FX. As Stephen mentioned, Q4 occupancy levels across our portfolio of centers that have been open for more than one year increased over the prior year and remained relatively consistent from Q3 levels in a low 60% utilization.

In the center cohorts we have discussed on prior calls, we continued to increase the number of centers in the top cohorts over the prior year period. In Q4, our top-performing cohort, defined as above 70% occupancy, improved from 36% of these centers in Q4 of 2023 to 39% in Q4 of 2024, and our bottom cohort of centers, those under 40% occupied, now represent 16% of centers, improving from 18% in the prior year period. Adjusted operating income of $17 million in the full-service segment increased $4.5 million over the prior year. Higher enrollment and improved operating leverage, particularly in our U.S. and U.K. operations, helped drive the growth in earnings. Turning to backup care, revenue grew more than $20 million, or 15% in the fourth quarter, to $157 million.

Strong overall use in Q4 drove the better-than-expected revenue growth, as well as the adjusted operating income of $53 million in Q4 of 2024, or 33% of revenue. For the year, revenue grew 16% to $610 million, topping our expectations of 14%-15% growth. Lastly, our revenue in the Education Advisory segment ticked up to $32.5 million in Q4 and delivered operating margin of 29%, modestly higher than the prior year, reflecting improved operating leverage. Net interest expense in the quarter of $11.5 million was down over the prior year, largely due to incremental interest income on invested cash. The structural effective tax rate on adjusted net income was 27.5% in the quarter, roughly in line with the full-year effective rate. Turning to the balance sheet and cash flow, for the full year 2024, we generated $337 million in cash from operations, compared to $256 million in 2023.

We made fixed asset investments totaling $95 million in 2024, as compared to $91 million in 2023. And lastly, with the continued cash build, and specifically Free Cash Flow generated in Q4, we repurchased roughly $85 million of stock in the quarter, our first repurchase activity since the summer of 2022. We ended the year with $110 million of cash, a Leverage Ratio of roughly two times net debt to Adjusted EBITDA, and approximately 58.5 million weighted average shares outstanding. Now, moving on to our 2025 outlook. In terms of the top line, we currently expect 2025 revenue to be in the range of $2.85 billion-$2.9 billion. This growth of 6%-8% includes a 115 basis points year-over-year headwind from the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against our foreign currencies. As a result, we expect constant currency revenue to grow approximately 7%-9%.

Looking at a segment level, in full service, we expect reported revenue to grow in the range of 4.5%-6.5%, with constant currency revenue growth of 6%-8% on enrollment gains and tuition increases, offset by a modest headwind from net center closings. In backup care, we expect reported revenue to increase 11%-13%, driven by the continued expansion of use. And in Education Advisory, we expect to grow in the low to mid-single digits. As Stephen previewed in terms of earnings, we expect 2025 adjusted EPS to be in the range of $3.95-$4.15 a share. Turning now specifically to the first quarter of 2025, our outlook is for total top-line growth in the range of 6%-8% on a reported basis to $660 million-$670 million, reflecting roughly 100 basis points headwind from FX over the prior year.

We expect Full Service to grow reported revenue, again, in the range of 4.5%-6.5%, or 6%-8% in constant currency, Backup to grow 11%-13%, and Ed Advisory in the mid-single digits. In terms of earnings, we expect Q1 Adjusted EPS to be in the range of $0.63-$0.68 a share. So with that, Sherry, we are ready to go to Q&A.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press Star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press Star 2 if you would like to remove your question from the queue. And for participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your headset before pressing the Star keys. One moment while we pull for questions. Our first question is from Manav Patnaik with Barclays. Please proceed.

Manav Patnaik (Director and Equity Research Analyst)

Thank you. Elizabeth, I was hoping you could just break out that 6%-8% exposed cost and expenses with expectations? I know you said pricing, enrollment, and then net of closures, but I was hoping you could just quantify a little bit what the pricing and those three components were basically.

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

So Manav, if I heard your question right, this is for the 2025 guide.

Manav Patnaik (Director and Equity Research Analyst)

Yeah, for the 6%-8% full center guide specifically.

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

Yeah, sorry, I just was—you were breaking up a little bit. So yes, overall, we would be looking at price increase in the 4%-5% range, enrollment in the 2.5%-3.5% range, and then the net closure effect, if you will, the openings offset by the effect of centers we have closed in the 0.5% or so, offsetting those two growth items. And then the foreign exchange is a point and a half, so 150 basis points headwind.

Manav Patnaik (Director and Equity Research Analyst)

Okay, got it. Understood. Helpful. And then, just like you have before, could you just help us with the margin, perhaps, for the full year and the three segments? I know you've done that before for that in the quarter.

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

Sure. So this year, we're in the lowish to mid-single digits for the full-service segment, so around 4%. We would be looking to improve that to mid-single digits, 150 basis points or so. That comes from some of the leverage from the enrollment and the pricing to cost, etc. So that's full service in that range. Our backup business for the year, we would expect it to be similar to what we've delivered in 2024, so in that 25%-30% range, but in the higher end of that, similar to what we did this year. There's a little bit of different phasing for that. It would be mid to high teens for the first quarter specifically, so a little bit of difference versus the full year, but you can see the trend of that this year, next year as well.

Then in the Education Advisory business, overall, again, some phasing throughout the year, but in the mid- to high-teens operating income for the year.

Manav Patnaik (Director and Equity Research Analyst)

Thank you.

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

Sure.

Operator (participant)

Our next question is from George Tong with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed.

George Tong (Senior Research Analyst)

Hi, thanks. Good afternoon. You mentioned that occupancy is currently in the low 60s, consistent with a 3Q. Can you provide your latest views on how occupancy rates will trend over the course of 2025?

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

Yeah, I mean, our expectation is overall for enrollment growth in the, call it, 2.5%-3.5% range, maybe a little bit more. We have harder comps in the first half and the second half, modestly, but fairly steady growth through the year, but maybe weighted slightly to the back end.

George Tong (Senior Research Analyst)

What about the percentage? Would you expect the low 60s% to reach mid-60s% with the high 60s%?

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

Oh, sorry. Yeah, sorry, George. It would be in the mid-60s. Yeah, that's where we would expect it.

George Tong (Senior Research Analyst)

And I know there's seasonality over the course of the year. How would you expect, I'm assuming the step-up happens in the first half of the year and then steps back down in the second half?

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

Yes, exactly. It would be because the enrollment, we would expect the growth to be fairly consistent. It would be higher in the first half like it was this year and then tapering back in the second half.

George Tong (Senior Research Analyst)

Got it. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Our next question is from Andrew Steinerman with J.P. Morgan. Please proceed.

Andrew Steinerman (Equity Research Analyst)

Hey, Elizabeth. I thought I heard you say that the number of center closings in 2025 would only drag revenues by 0.5%. Maybe you could mention how many centers that would be. It just sounds low to me because when I think about the pre-COVID years, the many years of center pruning, which was normal, would drag about 1% or 2% a year. So if it's only 0.5% this year, it just seems like you're not pruning even kind of a normal amount of pre-COVID centers for a year.

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

Yeah, so I think that the factor there, Andrew, I mean, we're trying to quantify the point about it, but I think it's net, of course, of the openings. So that was intended to be a net unit revenue factor. So closings will be higher than that. So call it if closings are 2% and openings are 2.25 and openings are 1% or 1.25, then that shapes down to less than 1% net. We do have - I think I'll point out one thing, though, about that, which is that the newer - we are opening centers. We opened 26 centers here in 2024. We would expect a similar number of openings based on what is in the pipeline and in development right now. Those centers open, and they are ramping up and delivering a sort of a more typical historic ramp profile.

The centers we are closing have been under-enrolled. They are at a revenue level that is already somewhat tapered down. So the effect of it is a headwind on revenue, but perhaps not completely representative of what you might have seen in the past.

Andrew Steinerman (Equity Research Analyst)

Right. And what was, in the fourth quarter, the same question? What was the revenue drag from center closing in the fourth quarter just reported?

Stephen Kramer (CEO)

From a gross basis, it was about a 250 basis points headwind from center closing. We had some new centers. So the net was closer to a 100 basis points drag.

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

100 basis point drag.

Andrew Steinerman (Equity Research Analyst)

Okay. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Our next question is from Jeff Mueller with Baird. Please proceed.

Jeff Meuler (Senior Research Analyst)

Yeah, thank you. Good afternoon. Stephen, you mentioned just the disappointment with the underperforming centers and intensifying efforts. Can you go into more detail on what the intensifying efforts part means? What are you doing differently going into 2025 than you've been doing throughout the COVID recovery, just from an operational side, to drive that up in full service?

Stephen Kramer (CEO)

Yeah, so I think a lot of it, Jeff, thank you for the question. I think a lot of it is really focused on continuing to refine the prospective family experience, so again, I think what we have continued to do and are, again, redoubling our efforts on are things like how a prospective family is handled as an inquiry, and so really making sure that we're intensifying the personal touch that those families are receiving through the process. I think we continue to improve our tour experience and making sure that we are providing greater visibility into the great experience that family will have once they enroll in the center.

And then I would say that we are also improving our ability to leverage the backup care use within our own centers and using more systems to convert backup users into full-time enrollment and really providing them that first experience through a backup use and then ultimately having them enroll on a permanent basis. So I would say a lot of it is down to how we're managing that funnel and making sure that the family has as many opportunities to see the great work that happens within our centers and expose them to that so they can differentiate with other options in the community.

Jeff Meuler (Senior Research Analyst)

Got it. And then just on Backup Care, just talk about client budget discussions or annual budget adjustments going into 2025 as we think about that as a growth driver versus driving up allowance of the existing use banks and new clients. Thanks.

Stephen Kramer (CEO)

Yeah, sure. So first of all, just to take a step back, obviously, we're really pleased with how backup performed throughout 2024, growing 16%, which, again, gives us the confidence to guide to 11%-13% for 2025. I would say specifically related to the renewal season, we had really positive conversations in this third and fourth quarter as it relates to the conversations and discussions we had with our existing client base. Obviously, they invested more than they had in the prior year. We got really good signals from our clients through both renewal as well as anecdotal evidence that they are interested in continuing to grow those investments. Again, their focus, as is ours, is on continuing to grow the number of unique users.

So in terms of the lever that we see as the important one and our employer clients are aligned with, we are looking to broaden the base of users within our client base and only, in a really small incremental way, grow the number of uses per user. And so we're not seeing many changes as it relates to the use banks that employers are offering, but instead, they are continuing to allow for a broader set of unique users that ultimately will come with additional use. So we felt really good about Q3 and Q4 in terms of the renewal season. Feel good about our ability to continue to drive marketing and other efforts as well as supply against the increased demand.

Jeff Meuler (Senior Research Analyst)

Got it. Thank you.

Stephen Kramer (CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Our next question is from Josh Chan with UBS. Please proceed.

Josh Chan (Executive Director and Equity Research Analyst)

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions. Stephen, I think you mentioned the return to office potentially being a little bit of a tailwind. How important of a factor is that to you? Would you attribute that factor to explain much of the difference between your current occupancy and your pre-COVID occupancy? Just kind of trying to ballpark how impactful office might be to you in your mind.

Stephen Kramer (CEO)

Yeah, look, I think that as we have grown the enrollment across the base of centers, clearly, there have been a number of factors that have gone into us continuing to be able to increase and improve enrollment. I would say with some of the most stubborn of enrollment challenges, so think about the ones that are in the third cohort, there are a selection of those. And I think I alluded to them in the prepared remarks, which is there is a selection of those in that bottom cohort that are in urban business districts. So think about D.C., think about Midtown to downtown Manhattan, think about downtown Seattle. And in those isolated markets, certainly return to office appears to be something that at this point could have an unlock. We're starting to see increased inquiries in some of those markets that historically have been particularly stubborn.

I wouldn't say it's the key driver in terms of our enrollment progress to date nor going forward, but there are a selection of centers that certainly will and hopefully will get assisted by return to office policies.

Manav Patnaik (Director and Equity Research Analyst)

Great. Thank you for the color there. And in the U.K., I think you mentioned a path to break even. Does that mean that you expect to fully get to break even for the full year? And if so, what are some of the initiatives beyond the ones that kind of led to last year's improvement that you're undertaking this year to drive that kind of result in the U.K.? Thank you.

Stephen Kramer (CEO)

Sure. So I think we had shared in previous calls that we had an expectation of a loss within the full-service segment in the U.K. of $15 million. And it's going to be actually closer to $10 million this year, 2024. And certainly, in 2025, our expectation is we're going to be able to get that to break even. I think what allowed us to do better in 2024 and start to see the kinds of improvements that we saw was down to enrollment growth. So our teams in the U.K. did a really nice job of growing our enrollment. They certainly worked really diligently on getting better and more efficient staffing. And as a result, we're able to really reduce our reliance on agency third-party staffing accommodations. We will continue to roll all of those efforts forward into this year, 2025.

Then the only other sort of additional piece of the puzzle for 2025 is that we have an expectation, given that the government has announced that for 0- to 3-year-olds, there will be increased numbers of hours. They're going to go from 15 hours of pre-entitlement to 30 hours of pre-entitlement. Our expectation is that that will create some additional velocity in Q3 and Q4.

Manav Patnaik (Director and Equity Research Analyst)

Great. Thank you for the call there, and good luck in 2025.

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

Thank you.

Stephen Kramer (CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Our next question is from Toni Kaplan with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed.

Toni Kaplan (Executive Director and Equity Research Lead Analyst)

Thank you. I wanted to start out with enrollment trends. In third quarter and fourth quarter, you had the low single-digit enrollment, and you've guided to about two and a half to three and a half for the coming year. And this was all laid out last quarter, so I don't feel like there was a lot new here. But just what do you think has driven the slower enrollment than you had seen previously? Just thinking about it in the post-COVID period, I guess enrollment was a lot higher because you were still sort of seeing people come back to center care. But just wanted to get your thoughts on the enrollment trends. Thanks.

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

Yeah. Thanks, Toni. I think the parsing it a little bit is helpful in terms of where we are actually seeing the opportunity for enrollment growth. So in our best-performing centers, we are over 80% occupied. Those centers, they may, for a period of time, gain some enrollment. But ultimately, when you've got a center that's that full, there will always be cycling out of older children into elementary school, etc. So maintaining those centers in the same enrollment level means not much enrollment growth from that cohort at all. The real growth opportunity is in those centers that are sub-70% enrolled. And that's where we have seen good improvement in the middle, sort of the middle cohort that we've characterized as 40 to 70% occupied, mid-single digits.

We are in the stage of enrollment in those centers where it's always a little bit difficult to piece the age of children and the availability of spaces together in all cases. Where Stephen mentioned it, and we talked a little bit earlier, not as in reflecting on where the improvement has been slower than we would have expected, even though the most underperforming centers have a high percentage of enrollment gain, they're still stubbornly below 40%. And that is, in some cases, it's down to where they are located in a very urban work-centric environment where there has been less opportunity to enroll families who are coming to that area. They've made other choices closer to their home.

But it is also, I think, that the environment during the pandemic recovery for families who can afford childcare. They've explored other options, and we're needing to grow back an awareness and an interest level in this kind of solution in some of these environments. So we're serving a population that is higher income, has other choices. We are serving generally in urban, near-urban environments. And we continue to see, as we've talked about, we continue to see good enrollment at our client centers tend to be more enrolled. Centers that have been open longer tend to be more enrolled. And so those that are under-enrolled may have characteristics of being what I just described or even just newer to open or reopen.

Toni Kaplan (Executive Director and Equity Research Lead Analyst)

Terrific. Then in Backup Care, you mentioned the strengths in in-home care. I was wondering if the financials of that are sort of higher revenue with lower margin or how to think about the profile there. And is that large enough within Backup Care to move the needle, or is it still just a very nascent offering that you're providing? Thanks.

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

The in-home care, it's a really important part of the overall solution. Many families appreciate that alternative. But the majority of our care is actually center-based. It's our own centers primarily. That's the top group. And then our network partners is the next group. So in-home care, it's not nascent or incidental. It's an important portion of our service delivery. And it's more expensive than providing care within our own centers or a center-based solution, but it's an important part of the overall solution in terms of providing optionality and having it meet the needs of the parent population. So we see it as continuing to grow that in-home capacity. But along with that, having enough of our own center-based capacity and/or our network partners is certainly where economics are most optimal.

But because the service delivery in the round is critical, we want to have as many care types as we can to serve the needs that the end consumer has.

Toni Kaplan (Executive Director and Equity Research Lead Analyst)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

As a reminder, this is star one on your telephone keypad if you would like to ask a question. Our next question is from Jeff Silber with BMO Capital Markets. Please proceed.

Jeff Silber (Business & Industrial Services and Education Analyst)

Thanks so much. Wanted to shift gears and talk a little bit about labor supply and more specifically wage inflation. I know we've started to see it tick up generally. I'm just wondering what you are seeing. And if it does go higher, do you have an opportunity to raise prices maybe mid-year to offset any increase going forward?

Stephen Kramer (CEO)

Yeah. So I think that we're comfortable with the estimates that we have at this point. Again, we've made some significant wage investments over the last four years. So we feel good about where our employees are being compensated. Again, in addition to wage itself, we obviously invest in benefits and other ways in which we enrich the package for those in our employ. I would say that in terms of seeing wage inflation that is greater than what we expect, first, we don't expect that. But in the event where that was the case, we always have the opportunity, especially for new families, to consider that. Although, again, at this point, that's not our expectation.

Manav Patnaik (Director and Equity Research Analyst)

Okay. That's really helpful. And you had mentioned the share repurchase in the quarter. I know it's been a first time in a little while. I'm just curious if you can just talk about your thought process behind that. What drove you to do that this quarter as opposed to using it for other purposes?

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

Yeah. I mean, we have been in the last couple of years both between our investments in our business in Australia and sort of making sure that the overall performance has stabilized. We've been building cash over the course of this year. Certainly have visibility to continued cash flow generation in the coming years and thought we are as opportunistic as we can be. The plan has been out there, and we've just been, I think, being judicious about capital deployment. But we've got very well-priced debt, and it's a good option for us to be active in that plan at this time.

Manav Patnaik (Director and Equity Research Analyst)

Okay. Very helpful. Thanks so much.

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

You're welcome.

Stephen Kramer (CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Our next question is from Faiza Alwy with Deutsche Bank. Please proceed.

Faiza Alwy (Managing Director)

Yes. Hi. Thank you, so I know we've talked about potential center closings, and I'm curious, where do you think the utilization cohort that's below 40% utilized would be next year around this time?

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

Yeah. So we are, as mentioned on the call, about 16% or so of that group of centers that are in that bottom cohort. Pre-COVID, we always have had centers in a sort of suboptimal performance group. And so getting to somewhere between 16% and probably 5% or so of the portfolio is where we would target at the end of 2025 based on what we would expect enrollment to grow this year. And we do have some continued pruning expected. We may not be all the way to that 5% threshold, but certainly expect to see at least a few points of improvement in the overall cohort group. I think it's a matter of improving those by enrollment gains in the centers that have been most affected. But I think overall, the look there would be that we also will have some centers that are opening and ramping.

Don't want you to think that that number would ever be getting to zero.

Faiza Alwy (Managing Director)

Okay. Okay. Understood. And then just on the full-service margin expansion, I know you talked about 150 basis points just coming from enrollment, etc. But I'm curious, I know we've talked about the margins within each of these utilization cohorts. And so could you give us an update on sort of how to think about those margins and the above 70% utilization cohort versus the 40%-70% at this point?

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

Yeah. I mean, broadly speaking, the most enrolled centers, the group that's above 70% is essentially back to pre-COVID operating margin level. So in the full-service business, we were at 10% or so EBIT margins. And those centers are certainly back to that level, even better. They were the better performers and so doing well. The middle cohort enrolled in that 40%-70% are less than that. They're positive, but call it more like our overall average in the mid-single digits range. It's the underperforming group, that 16% we were just talking about, that they are actually losing money. And so as a group, they lose some level. So it's not really that relevant to quote it as a percentage of revenue. They're under-enrolled. The revenue isn't that representative of where they would be if they were performing. But they are losing on a unit basis. They're losing money.

So that's where the headwind and the improvement to margins will come from getting those to break even and then positive. And then ultimately, the bigger opportunity really is almost in that middle group of centers where, call it 40%-45% or so, the centers are in that middle group and have the opportunity to move from mid-single digits back closer to that 10% level.

Faiza Alwy (Managing Director)

Great. Thank you so much.

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

You're welcome.

Stephen Kramer (CEO)

Thank you. Okay. Thank you all very much for joining us this evening and wishing you all a great night.

Elizabeth Boland (CFO)

Thanks, everyone. Take care.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. This will conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and thank you for your participation.