Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc (BFAM) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings and welcome to Bright Horizons Family Solutions second quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded and it is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Mr. Michael Flanagan, Vice President, Investor Relations. Thank you, Mr. Flanagan, you may begin.

您好，歡迎參加 Bright Horizo​​ns Family Solutions 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員說明） 提醒一下，本次會議正在錄製中，現在我很高興向您介紹主持人，投資者關係副總裁 Michael Flanagan 先生。謝謝您，弗拉納根先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you, Ranju, and welcome to Bright Horizons' second quarter earnings call. Before we begin, please note that today's call is being webcast and a recording will be available under the Investor Relations section of our website, Brighthorizons.com. As a reminder to participants, any forward-looking statements made on this call, including those regarding future business, financial performance, and outlook are subject to the Safe Harbor statement included in our earnings release.

謝謝 Ranju，歡迎參加 Bright Horizo​​ns 第二季財報電話會議。在開始之前，請注意，今天的電話會議正在進行網路直播，並且可在我們網站 Brighthorizo​​ns.com 的投資者關係部分查看錄音。提醒參與者，本次電話會議中所做的任何前瞻性陳述，包括有關未來業務、財務業績和前景的陳述，均受我們收益發布中包含的安全港聲明的約束。

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, our 2023 form 10-K, and other SEC filings. Any forward-looking statements speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

前瞻性陳述本質上涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致實際營運和財務結果出現重大差異，應與我們的收益發布、2023 年 10-K 表格和其他 SEC 中詳細描述的警示性陳述結合起來考慮備案。任何前瞻性陳述僅代表其作出之日的情況，我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

We also refer today 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.

今天我們也提到了非 GAAP 財務指標，這些指標在我們的收益發布中進行了詳細說明並與 GAAP 財務指標進行了核對，收益發布可在我們網站 Investors.brighthorizo​​ns.com 的 IR 部分查看。

Joining me on today's call are Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Kramer, and our Chief Financial Officer, Elizabeth Boland. Steven will start by reviewing our results and provide an update on the business, Elizabeth will follow with more detailed review of the numbers before we open it up to your questions.

與我一起參加今天電話會議的有執行長 Stephen Kramer 和我們的財務長 Elizabeth Boland。史蒂文將首先審查我們的結果並提供有關業務的最新信息，伊麗莎白將在我們向您提出問題之前對這些數字進行更詳細的審查。

With that, let me turn the call over to Stephen.

現在，讓我把電話轉給史蒂芬。

Thanks, Mike, and welcome to everyone who's joined the call. I am really pleased with our performance in the second quarter and first half of 2024. Revenue growth remained strong in both full service and back-up care, and adjusted EPS growth of nearly 40% outpaced our expectations through better operational efficiency across all three of our segments. With the outperformance in the first half of the year and continued progress expected for the remainder of the year, we are raising our full year guidance on both the top and bottom line.

謝謝麥克，歡迎所有加入通話的人。我對我們 2024 年第二季和上半年的表現非常滿意。全方位服務和後備護理領域的收入成長仍然強勁，調整後每股收益成長近 40%，超出了我們所有三個細分市場營運效率的預期。鑑於上半年的優異表現以及預計今年剩餘時間將繼續取得進展，我們正在提高全年營收和利潤指引。

So to get into some of the specifics on the second quarter, revenue increased 11% to $670 million with adjusted EBITDA up 25% to $103 million, and adjusted EPS growing 38% to $0.88 per share. In our full-service childcare segment, revenue increased 11% in the second quarter to $507 million. We opened seven centers in the quarter, including new client centers for Walmart, Hormel Foods, United Health Services, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Enrollment at centers opened for more than one year, increased at a mid single digit rate in Q2 and average occupancy percentage stepped up to the mid-60s.

因此，要了解第二季的一些具體情況，營收成長 11%，達到 6.7 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 成長 25%，達到 1.03 億美元，調整後每股盈餘成長 38%，達到每股 0.88 美元。在我們的全方位兒童保育服務領域，第二季度營收成長了 11%，達到 5.07 億美元。我們在本季開設了七個中心，包括沃爾瑪、荷美爾食品、聯合健康服務公司和阿肯色大學醫學科學分校的新客戶中心。中心開幕已超過一年，第二季以中個位數成長，平均入住率升至 60 多歲。

The US continues to see strong performance with mid-single digit enrollment growth, driven by high single digit growth in our younger age groups and mid-single digit growth in the preschool age group. Outside the US, enrollment increased at a low single digit rate. The UK continues to lead growth internationally with mid-single digit enrollment growth, while the Netherlands and Australia continue to have higher than average occupancy levels, and as a result, more limited expansion in enrollments.

在年輕年齡組的高個位數增長和學齡前年齡組的中個位數增長的推動下，美國繼續表現強勁，入學率保持中個位數增長。在美國以外，入學率以較低的個位數成長。英國繼續以中等個位數的入學人數增長引領國際成長，而荷蘭和澳洲的入住率繼續高於平均水平，因此入學人數的擴張更加有限。

Specifically on our UK business, after a challenging couple of years, the first half of 2024 has been marked by steady enrollment gains, increased permanent staff, and reduced reliance on third-party agencies, along with moderating inflation. The initiatives we've put in place over the last 18 months have significantly improved the efficiency of labor, delivering center operating improvements more quickly than we anticipated. Although the UK will continue to be a headwind to our overall full-service profitability in the coming quarters, the progress we have seen this year gives me confidence that our strategy is working, and our UK team will continue to progress towards recovery to pre-pandemic performance levels.

具體來說，就我們的英國業務而言，在經歷了充滿挑戰的幾年之後，2024 年上半年的特點是入學人數穩定增長、長期員工數量增加、對第三方機構的依賴減少以及通膨放緩。我們在過去 18 個月中採取的措施顯著提高了勞動力效率，以比我們預期更快的速度改善中心運作。儘管英國在未來幾季將繼續成為我們整體全方位服務獲利能力的阻力，但我們今年所看到的進展讓我相信我們的策略正在發揮作用，我們的英國團隊將繼續朝著恢復到前水平的方向前進。

Let me now turn to back-up care, which delivered another strong quarter, growing revenue 15% to $136 million. In addition to solid utilization across our various use types, we also continued to expand our client base with Q2 launches, including Honeywell and the Georgia Institute of Technology. US growth in our traditional care network remains solid underpinned by continued expansion of the number of client employees utilizing their back-up care benefit. Center-based care remains the predominant care type and continues to grow faster than in-home, even as center occupancy continues to grow.

現在讓我談談後備護理，該季度的收入又成長了 15%，達到 1.36 億美元。除了各種使用類型的穩定利用之外，我們還透過第二季的推出繼續擴大我們的客戶群，包括霍尼韋爾和喬治亞理工學院。由於利用後備照護福利的客戶員工數量持續增加，美國傳統照護網絡的成長仍然穩固。儘管中心入住率持續增長，中心護理仍然是主要的護理類型，並且增長速度繼續快於家庭護理。

Encouragingly, we started off the seasonally high new summer period on a good note with solid use in June continuing into July. We remain very excited about the opportunity in the back-up care segment as we work to leverage our technology and marketing investments and innovative care types to best serve our clients and their employees. Our education advisory business grew to $26 million, increasing 2.5% over the prior year, in line with our expectations for the quarter, but well below the longer-term growth opportunity we see for this segment.

令人鼓舞的是，我們以良好的狀態開始了季節性高的新夏季時期，六月的穩定使用一直持續到七月。我們對後備護理領域的機會仍然感到非常興奮，因為我們致力於利用我們的技術和行銷投資以及創新護理類型來為我們的客戶及其員工提供最好的服務。我們的教育諮詢業務成長至 2,600 萬美元，比上年增長 2.5%，符合我們對本季的預期，但遠低於我們對該細分市場的長期成長機會。

We continue to add new clients to the portfolio, notably launching Global Foundries and International Paper. While growth in participants remains challenging, the team is working diligently on product and packaging as well as marketing with the goal of driving greater client adoption and client employee participation in 2025 and beyond.

我們持續在投資組合中增加新客戶，特別是推出 Global Foundries 和 International Paper。儘管參與者的成長仍然充滿挑戰，但團隊正在努力研究產品和包裝以及行銷，目標是在 2025 年及以後推動更多的客戶採用和客戶員工參與。

Before I wrap up, I want to congratulate and celebrate the recent graduation of nearly 400 Bright Horizons' employees in our Horizons Teacher Degree Program. I had the honor of speaking at this year's commencement, and I want to applaud this tremendous accomplishment for our educators. It takes a significant amount of time, effort, and commitment to earn a CDA, AA and BA, while working as an early childhood educator and a Bright Horizons center

在結束發言之前，我要祝賀並慶祝近 400 名 Bright Horizo​​ns 員工最近從我們的 Horizo​​​​ns 教師學位課程畢業。我很榮幸在今年的畢業典禮上發言，我想為我們的教育工作者所取得的巨大成就喝采。作為幼兒教育工作者和 Bright Horizo​​ns 中心的工作人員，需要投入大量的時間、精力和承諾才能獲得 CDA、AA 和 BA

With more than 80% of our centers having an enrolled learner, this program is truly a win win, win. Our teachers advance their education and grow their careers with us. The families we serve benefit from the highest quality care and education, and Bright Horizons developed an even more qualified and engaged workforce.

我們 80% 以上的中心都有註冊學習者，該計劃確實是雙贏。我們的老師與我們一起推進教育並發展他們的職業生涯。我們服務的家庭受益於最高品質的護理和教育，Bright Horizo​​ns 培養了一支更合格和更敬業的員工隊伍。

In closing, I'm pleased with our strong first half of 2024. We have executed well against the goals we set for the year and are set up well to increase our guidance. Specifically, we now expect revenue growth for the year of approximately 11% or a range of $2.65 billion to $2.7 billion and adjusted EPS in the range of $3.30 to $3.40 per share.

最後，我對 2024 年上半年的強勁表現感到滿意。我們很好地實現了今年設定的目標，並為提高指導做好了充分準備。具體來說，我們目前預計今年營收將成長約 11%，即 26.5 億美元至 27 億美元之間，調整後每股收益在 3.30 美元至 3.40 美元之間。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Elizabeth, who will dive into the quarterly numbers and share more details around our outlook statements.

接下來，我將把電話轉給伊莉莎白，她將深入研究季度數據，並分享有關我們展望聲明的更多細節。

Thank you, Stephen. To recap the second quarter, overall revenue increased 11% to $670 million, adjusted operating income of $69 million or 10% of revenue increased 52% over 2Q '23, while adjusted EBITDA of $103 million or 15% of revenue increased 25% over the prior year. We ended the quarter with 1,032 centers adding nine sorry -- seven new and closing 19 centers in the second quarter. To break that down a bit further, full-service revenue of $507 million was up 11% in Q2, at the high end of our expectations on increased enrollment and tuition pricing.

謝謝你，史蒂芬。回顧第二季度，整體營收成長11%，達到6.7 億美元，調整後營業收入為6,900 萬美元，佔營收的10%，比2023 年第二季成長52%，而調整後EBITDA 為1.03 億美元，佔營收的15%，比2023 年第二季成長25%。本季結束時，我們有 1,032 個中心，新增了 9 個中心，遺憾的是，第二季新增了 7 個中心，並關閉了 19 個中心。進一步細分，第二季的全方位服務收入為 5.07 億美元，成長了 11%，處於我們對入學人數增加和學費定價預期的上限。

As mentioned, enrollment in our centers opened for more than one year increased mid single digits across the portfolio. Occupancy levels averaged in the mid 60s for Q2, stepping up sequentially, given the traditional enrollment seasonality. US enrollment was also up mid-single digits, while enrollment outside the US increased in the low single digits over the prior year.

如前所述，我們中心開設一年多的入學人數在整個投資組合中增加了中個位數。考慮到傳統的入學季節性，第二季的平均入住率在 60 多歲左右，並且逐年上升。與前一年相比，美國的入學人數也出現了中個位數的增長，而美國以外的入學人數則出現了較低的個位數增長。

In the center cohorts that we've previously discussed, we also continued to show improvement over the prior year period. In Q2, our top performing cohort, defined as above 70% occupancy improved from 43% of our centers in 2Q of '23 to 51% in 2Q of '24. And our bottom cohort of centers, those under 40% occupied now represents 10% of centers as compared to 14% in the prior year.

在我們之前討論過的中心群體中，我們也繼續表現出較上年同期有所改善。在第二季度，我們表現最好的隊列（定義為入住率超過 70%）從 23 年第二季的 43% 提高到 24 年第二季的 51%。在我們的底部隊列中，佔用率低於 40% 的中心現在佔中心的 10%，而前一年為 14%。

Adjusted operating income of $33 million in the full-service segment increased to $20 million over the prior year. Higher enrollment, tuition increases, and improved operating leverage more than offset a $9 million reduction in support that we received from the [Albert] government funding program in 2Q of '23. While the UK full-service business continues to be a headwind to the overall segment profitability, we have seen good progress in reducing the losses with improved staffing, the continued enrollment gains, and the rationalization of our center portfolio that we have discussed on prior calls.

全方位服務部門調整後營業收入為 3,300 萬美元，較前一年增加至 2,000 萬美元。入學率的提高、學費的增加和營運槓桿的提高，遠遠抵消了我們在 2023 年第二季度從 [阿爾伯特] 政府資助計劃中獲得的 900 萬美元的支持減少。雖然英國的全方位服務業務仍然是整體細分市場盈利能力的阻力，但我們在透過改善人員配置、持續增加入學人數以及我們在之前的電話會議中討論過的中心投資組合合理化方面看到了良好的進展。

Turning to back-up care, revenue grew 15% in the second quarter to $136 million ahead of our expectations of 10% to 12% growth and stronger overall use of adjusted operating income of $32 million in Q2 of '24 or 23% of revenue (technical difficulty) of our expectations on operating leverage from the higher utilization. Lastly, our educational advisory segment reported $26 million of revenue and delivered operating margin of 18%. Operating margins contracted in Q2 and the first half of 2024 over the prior year, due to the investments that we are making in the team and the product suite.

談到後備護理，第二季度收入增長了15%，達到1.36 億美元，超出了我們預期的10% 至12% 增長，並且2024 年第二季度調整後營業收入3200 萬美元的整體使用更加強勁，佔營收的23% （技術難度）我們對經營槓桿的預期來自較高的利用率。最後，我們的教育諮詢部門報告收入為 2,600 萬美元，營業利潤率為 18%。由於我們對團隊和產品套件進行投資，2024 年第二季和上半年的營業利潤率比前一年有所收縮。

Interest expense of $12 million in Q2 '24 reflects lower average borrowings offset by higher overall net rates on our outstanding debt as compared to Q2 of '23. The structural effective tax rate on adjusted net income was 27.8%, just a touch lower than the prior year.

與 2023 年第二季相比，24 年第二季的利息支出為 1,200 萬美元，反映出平均借款較低，但被未償債務總體淨利率較高所抵銷。調整後淨利的結構性有效稅率為27.8%，略低於上年度。

Turning to the balance sheet and cash flow. We generated $110 million in cash from operations in the second quarter and $226 million for the first half of '24, compared to $180 million for the first half of '23. We made fixed asset investments of $23 million in the second quarter and $42 million for the first half of 2024 compared to $40 million for the first half of 2023. We ended the quarter with $140 million of cash and reduced our leverage ratio to 2.2 times net debt to adjusted EBITDA.

轉向資產負債表和現金流量。我們第二季的營運現金為 1.1 億美元，24 年上半年的現金為 2.26 億美元，而 23 年上半年的現金為 1.8 億美元。我們第二季的固定資產投資為 2,300 萬美元，2024 年上半年的固定資產投資為 4,200 萬美元，而 2023 年上半年的固定資產投資為 4,000 萬美元。本季末，我們擁有 1.4 億美元現金，並將槓桿率降至調整後 EBITDA 淨債務的 2.2 倍。

And now moving on to the 2024 outlook. As Stephen previewed, we are increasing our 2024 full year guidance for revenue to a range of $2.65 billion to $2.7 billion and adjusted EPS to a range of $3.30 to $3.40 a share. This increase in both revenue and EPS broadly reflects the flow through of our better than expected performance in the first half of the year and continued strength anticipated in the back-up segment for the key summer season.

現在展望 2024 年。正如史蒂芬所預見的那樣，我們將 2024 年全年收入指引提高至 26.5 億美元至 27 億美元，並將每股收益調整至 3.30 美元至 3.40 美元。營收和每股盈餘的成長廣泛反映了我們上半年的業績優於預期，以及預計關鍵夏季後備業務將持續強勁。

In terms of our updated segment growth outlook for the year, we now expect full-service revenue to grow roughly 10% to 12%, back-up care to grow 12% to 14%, and ed advisory to be relatively flat compared to the prior year. As we look specifically to Q3, our outlook is for total top line growth in the range of 9% to 11%. This reflects full service growth of 9% to 11%, back-up growth of 11% to 13%, and ed advisory to be relatively flat. In terms of earnings, we expect Q3 adjusted EPS to be in the range of $1.4 to $1.9 per share.

就我們今年更新的細分市場成長前景而言，我們目前預計全方位服務收入將成長約 10% 至 12%，後備照護將成長 12% 至 14%，教育諮詢收入將相對持平。當我們具體關注第三季時，我們的預期是總收入成長在 9% 至 11% 範圍內。這反映了全面服務成長 9% 至 11%，備用成長 11% 至 13%，而教育諮詢則相對持平。就獲利而言，我們預計第三季調整後每股收益將在每股 1.4 美元至 1.9 美元之間。

So with that, Renju, we are ready to go to Q&A.

那麼，連珠，我們準備好要進行問答了。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

George Tong, Goldman Sachs.

喬治唐，高盛。

Thanks. Good afternoon. You increased your full year guidance and mentioned some drivers of that increase, including the 2Q outperformance and strength in backup. Can you elaborate on some of the surprises to the upside that you saw in the quarter and what your assumptions are around occupancy rates that you're baking into the guide?

謝謝。午安.您提高了全年指導，並提到了這一增長的一些驅動因素，包括第二季度的優異表現和備份實力。您能否詳細說明您在本季看到的一些令人驚訝的上升趨勢，以及您對納入指南的入住率的假設是什麼？

Sure. So let me just make a note -- occupancy to reach. And so in the second quarter of the the performance was, as you say, higher than our expectations, and it really comes down to both the full service and back-up segments. We did call out some of the particulars in the UK, which we would identify as has been earlier than expected realization of some of the cost savings that we have been pursuing, particularly as it relates to the use of agency staff and having a more of a permanent staff component to the labor in the UK, that coupled with the steady enrollment gains, has allowed us to essentially sooner than expected be realizing some improvement in the operating performance there.

當然。所以讓我記下來—要達到的入住率。因此，正如您所說，第二季的業績高於我們的預期，這實際上取決於全面服務和備份部門。我們確實提到了英國的一些細節，我們認為這些細節比預期更早地實現了我們一直在追求的一些成本節約，特別是因為它與使用機構工作人員和擁有更多的英國勞動力中的長期員工組成部分，加上入學人數的穩定成長，使我們能夠比預期更快地實現當地營運績效的一些改善。

And that coupled with the higher use in backup and the mix of use in the backup business also drove a little bit better EBIT performance, even on the sort of modest revenue outperformance. As we look out to the rest of the year, we saw mid-single digits enrollment growth. In full-service, we would expect that to broadly continue over the rest of the year.

再加上備份使用率的提高以及備份業務的混合使用，也推動了息稅前利潤（EBIT）表現的提高，即使在收入表現不佳的情況下。展望今年剩餘時間，我們看到入學人數呈現中個位數成長。在全方位服務方面，我們預計這種情況將在今年剩餘時間內廣泛持續。

And the full-service business has a step down in a seasonality. Full services such that there's a bit of a step down in the enrollment absolutely in the quarter. But in terms of again year over year would sustain in that mid-single digits range we would expect. And from a backup standpoint, we are -- as we outlined here, we ticked up the revenue guide given the strength of the way that December started on news.

而全服務業務的季節性則有所下降。全面的服務使得本季的入學人數絕對有所下降。但就同比而言，將再次維持在我們預期的中個位數範圍內。從備份的角度來看，正如我們在此概述的那樣，鑑於 12 月開始的新聞表現強勁，我們提高了收入指南。

Great, that's very helpful. And just on the point on occupancy rates, what percentages are you assuming for the rest of the year and exiting into next year?

太好了，這非常有幫助。就入住率而言，您預計今年剩餘時間以及明年的入住率是多少？

Yes. So we are -- at this at this point, we would be looking at with a mid-single digits growth compared to where we ended last year. We'd be in the low 60s to mid 60s utilization for the pound for the full year.

是的。因此，在這一點上，與去年年底相比，我們將看到中等個位數的成長。全年英鎊的利用率將處於 60 年代低至 60 年代中期。

Very helpful. Thank you.

非常有幫助。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Manav Patnaik, Barclays.

馬納夫·帕特奈克，巴克萊銀行。

Yeah, thank you. Elizabeth, just on the backup guidance of 11% to 13%, can you just talk about the -- you talked about July, looking pretty strong just up and the visibility you have and then the third quarter, at least of that number and 11% to 13% sound tighter, I think it's a tough comp as well. So just any color there?

是的，謝謝。伊麗莎白，就 11% 到 13% 的備份指導而言，您能否談談您談到的 7 月份，看起來相當強勁，以及您所擁有的可見度，然後是第三季度，至少是這個數字和 11 % 到13% 聽起來更緊，我認為這也是一個艱難的組合。那麼那裡有任何顏色嗎？

Yeah. As you said, we had revenue growth, I think, in the in the third quarter last year, that was almost -- yes, almost 30%. And so we do have a pretty tough comp. It was 25% in the second half. But overall, it is a challenging comp, but pretty strong sequential growth that we're expecting an issue. As you asked about how much visibility we have, obviously, we've just seen that July results I'm coming in and have seen very solid use so far in the quarter. Which is what gives us the conviction around that, that kind of a revenue guide and the better flow-through on the earnings that we would see in the third quarter. Hence, the sort of a modest uptick to the earnings guide there.

是的。正如你所說，我認為去年第三季我們的收入成長了幾乎——是的，幾乎 30%。所以我們確實有一個非常艱難的比賽。下半年為25%。但總體而言，這是一個具有挑戰性的競爭，但我們預計會出現相當強勁的連續成長。當你問我們有多少可見性時，顯然，我們剛剛看到了我即將發布的 7 月份結果，並且在本季度到目前為止已經看到了非常可靠的使用。這讓我們對此充滿信心，這種收入指南以及我們將在第三季度看到的更好的收益流動。因此，該地區的獲利指引略有上升。

Okay. Got it. And then just like you kind of helped us with the quarterly cadence on the revenue growth by segment. Could you just help us with the margin expectations for Q3 and the full year?

好的。知道了。然後就像您幫助我們確定了按細分市場劃分的收入成長的季度節奏一樣。您能否幫助我們了解第三季和全年的利潤率預期？

Yeah. So maybe just continuing with backup. The backup business improves as the year goes into the third quarter. The seasonal -- not only has the revenue at a seasonal peak in Q3, but so is the earnings and 10% in the fourth quarter. But in the second, the second half, third quarter, certainly the second half, we would expect backup to be in the low 30s.

是的。所以也許只是繼續備份。隨著今年進入第三季度，備份業務有所改善。季節性－不僅第三季營收達到季節性峰值，第四季獲利也達到季節性峰值，成長10%。但在第二、下半年、第三季度，當然是下半年，我們預計備份將在 30 左右。

There's a couple of factors for that. Obviously, the use performance and the operating leverage that we get from that takes us to the higher end of the range. And we've also -- as we've taking the the overhead cadence to a more radical view for the year, there's been a little bit of a headwind in overhead for backup in the first half. And then there's a little bit of a tailwind that gives it a couple of hundred basis points of tailwind that puts that margin a few points over 30% is what we would be looking at.

這有幾個因素。顯然，我們從中獲得的使用性能和營運槓桿將我們帶到了該範圍的高端。我們也—由於我們對今年的管理費用節奏採取了更激進的看法，上半年的備援費用出現了一些逆風。然後還有一點點順風，它會帶來幾百個基點的順風，使利潤率超過 30%，這就是我們所希望看到的。

The the full service business steps down. As mentioned, seasonally, we have a enrollment turn with children -- the older children graduate into going to elementary school and sort of backfilling that through the year. So there's a natural step down from where we reported this quarter and at 6 -- 6.5% range, we would see that step down naturally because of the seasonality and then the converse effect of that of a bit more overhead being captured in full service in the second half than was in the first half, puts about -- it's about 50 to 75 basis points a quarter.

全方位服務業務逐步退出。如前所述，我們按季節對孩子進行入學輪流——年齡較大的孩子畢業後進入小學，並在這一年中進行補充。因此，與我們本季度報告的情況相比，有一個自然的下降，在 6 - 6.5% 的範圍內，我們會看到由於季節性而自然下降，然後在全面服務中捕獲更多開銷的相反效果下半年的利率比上半年高，每季大約有50 到75 個基點。

And so the swing from Q2 to Q3 explains about 125 basis points or so shift here from that first from Q2 to Q3 and then and we see that in a similar range, and having a low to mid single digits for the second half, -- for the years, sorry, are ending the year in that low to mid-single digit range. (multiple speakers)

因此，從第二季度到第三季度的波動解釋了大約125 個基點左右的轉變，首先從第二季度到第三季度，然後我們看到在類似的範圍內，下半年有低到中個位數，--抱歉，多年來，今年的收盤價都在低至中個位數的範圍內。（多個發言者）

Andrew Steinerman, JP Morgan.

安德魯‧史坦納曼，摩根大通。

Hi, Elizabeth. What is the current percentage wage inflation year over year of the Bright Horizons teachers and staff? And do you feel like the percentage tuition increases will be ahead of wage increases on a going-forward basis?

嗨，伊麗莎白。目前 Bright Horizo​​ns 教師和員工的薪資年漲百分比是多少？您是否認為未來學費上漲的百分比將領先於薪資上漲？

Yeah. So we are -- what we're seeing for wage inflation is roughly in the 4% range. And it's something that has been a little bit, candidly, a little bit firmer inflation has persisted a bit in that wage environment. We're seeing a better labor supply environment that's been improving, but we've still seen some some strength in the wage inflation. So 4% is what we are seeing are probably average.

是的。所以我們看到薪資通膨率大約在 4% 的範圍內。坦白說，在這種工資環境下，通貨膨脹稍微堅挺一些。我們看到勞動力供應環境正在改善，但薪資通膨仍然強勁。所以我們看到的 4% 可能是平均值。

We have been able to price ahead of that by about 100 basis points on average. That's been our experience this year. And I think as much as we have the visibility, we're -- it's early to be guiding for '25. But broadly speaking, we would think we would be able to sustain that kind of 100 basis point gap. But it's a bit early to be predicting specifically whether it being what rate that would be at. But we're seeing that pricing power.

我們的定價平均提前約 100 個基點。這就是我們今年的經驗。我認為，儘管我們有足夠的知名度，但現在為 25 年提供指導還為時過早。但總的來說，我們認為我們能夠維持這種 100 個基點的差距。但現在具體預測具體的利率是否會是多少還為時過早。但我們看到了定價能力。

That's great. Can I just ask a quick follow up on that. You said labor supply of teachers and staff seems to be improving. Is that because maybe other centers are closing, not Bright Horizon centers, but other centers are closing kind of pause post offer? Or do you feel like there might be more new entry into early childhood education or less pull away from childhood education to other industries? What's driving the labor supply?

那太棒了。我可以要求快速跟進嗎？你說教師和工作人員的勞動力供應似乎正在改善。這是因為也許其他中心正在關閉，不是 Bright Horizo​​n 中心，而是其他中心正在關閉某種暫停後優惠？或者您認為幼兒教育行業可能會有更多新的進入，或者從幼兒教育轉向其他行業的機會會減少？是什麼推動了勞動供給？

Yeah. So I think there's a few things at work here. I think first we are just candidly getting better at getting an even greater share of those who are available and interested in the field. And that comes in two flavors. The first is folks who are already in the field and attracting them away from their current employees. And then secondly, again, because of our education program and the wages that we offer, being able to incent people to come into the field and ultimately growing our own. So going out, hiring for added, training for skill, and using our programs in that way. So I would say, it's that combination that really has been helpful for us in particular to be able to attract more educators to Bright Horizons.

是的。所以我認為這裡有一些事情在起作用。我認為首先，坦白說，我們在吸引更多對該領域感興趣的人方面做得更好。這有兩種形式。第一個是已經在該領域工作並吸引他們離開現有員工的人。其次，由於我們的教育計劃和我們提供的工資，能夠激勵人們進入這個領域並最終發展我們自己的領域。因此，走出去，招募補充人員，培訓技能，並以這種方式使用我們的計劃。所以我想說，正是這種結合對我們確實很有幫助，特別是能夠吸引更多的教育工作者加入 Bright Horizo​​ns。

Jeff Meuler, Baird.

傑夫·穆勒，貝爾德。

Yeah, thank you. Good afternoon. Can you talk maybe through some of the things you're doing from an initiative perspective to better capture, I guess, the seasonal summer demand? I know Stephen case is a part of it. But your kegger over the last three years, it looks like it's pretty incredible for Q3. And then just beyond the tough comp, any other rate limiting factors we should consider. I don't know where you're at in terms of capacity constraints or anything else? Thank you.

是的，謝謝。午安.您能否從主動的角度談談您正在做的一些事情，以便更好地捕捉季節性夏季需求？我知道史蒂芬凱斯是其中的一部分。但過去三年的表現，對於第三季來說，看起來相當不可思議。然後，除了嚴格的競爭之外，我們還應該考慮任何其他速率限制因素。我不知道您在容量限製或其他方面處於什麼位置？謝謝。

Yeah. So I would say that first on the summer is certainly increasing in terms of the peak through each of the years at this point. And so we're really excited about the different use types that we have. But certainly, in the summer, we're seeing a lot of use in centers, and we're seeing a lot of use in camps. And I think that we have been very thoughtful about how to get ahead of that demand, that increasing demand to make sure that we're able to fulfill in that way.

是的。所以我想說，在這一點上，每年夏季的峰值肯定會增加。因此，我們對我們擁有的不同使用類型感到非常興奮。但當然，在夏天，我們在中心和營地中看到了很多使用。我認為我們對於如何滿足這種需求、不斷增長的需求進行了非常深思熟慮，以確保我們能夠以這種方式滿足需求。

So I would say in terms of rate-limiting steps, I feel really good that we have a lot of good personalized outreach campaigns going on within our client bases. And at the same time, making sure that we're doing that in a way that is reflective of the increasing amount of supply that we're building to make sure that we can accommodate it. So overall, feel really good about the summer. We have some visibility obviously into July and -- sorry into August, and are now looking very positively about what this summer should shape up to look like.

因此，我想說，就速率限制步驟而言，我感覺非常好，因為我們在客戶群中進行了許多良好的個人化外展活動。同時，確保我們這樣做的方式能夠反映我們正在建造的不斷增加的供應量，以確保我們能夠容納它。總的來說，夏天的感覺真的很好。我們對七月和八月顯然有一些了解，現在非常積極地看待今年夏天的情況。

Got it. Thank you. And then on full-service, the enrollment step-down that you saw seasonally at the beginning of the summer, does it look pretty similar in terms of order of magnitude to prior summers? And then, as we think about back-to-school, are you assuming kind of like the historical average or is there any sort of benefit assume because you have greater mix of younger children in the mix relative to the longer-term trend?

知道了。謝謝。然後，在全方位服務方面，您在夏季初看到的季節性入學人數下降，其數量級與之前的夏季非常相似嗎？然後，當我們考慮重返校園時，您是否假設有點像歷史平均水平，或者是否有任何好處假設，因為相對於長期趨勢，年齡較小的孩子比例更大？

The trend does look fairly similar to historic patterns. We are slightly overweighted in infant toddler, but that has diminished as the preschool enrollment has we have been coming in. And so we're expecting to see, I think, a more -- it's coming back to the norm on overtime, but a pretty consistent view into the fall. But I think what's positive about all the steadiness of the enrollment gain over the last couple of years is that by enrolling children in all of the age groups, we do build a good supply of future preschoolers with the infant toddler enrollment that we have. And then we have space to take all the preschoolers we can market to, and also from Stephen's comment, be able to take back-up care, even as centers are getting more enrollment, we're able to take more back-up care centers as that demand persists.

這一趨勢看起來確實與歷史模式非常相似。我們的幼兒體重稍微偏重，但隨著學前班入學人數的增加，這種情況已經減少。因此，我認為，我們預計會看到加班時間恢復正常，但對秋季的看法相當一致。但我認為，過去幾年入學率增長的所有積極因素是，透過招募所有年齡層的兒童，我們確實透過現有的嬰幼兒入學人數，為未來的學齡前兒童提供了良好的供應。然後我們有空間容納我們可以推銷的所有學齡前兒童，而且根據斯蒂芬的評論，我們能夠提供後備護理，即使中心的入學人數增加，我們也能夠容納更多的後備護理中心因為這種需求持續存在。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Josh Chan, UBS.

喬許陳，瑞銀。

Hi, good afternoon, Stephen and Elizabeth. Congrats on a good quarter. I guess on the full service margin front, could you bridge us from last year's 3%, this year's 6.5% in terms of factors that are most helpful? Is it utilization? Was that the 100 basis point delta between wage and tuition, the UK health? can you just kind of help us understand what were the most impactful drivers there? Thank you.

嗨，下午好，史蒂芬和伊麗莎白。恭喜季度表現良好。我想在全方位服務利潤率方面，您能否將我們從去年的 3% 過渡到今年的 6.5% 的最有幫助的因素？是利用嗎？這是薪資和學費之間 100 個基點的差值，還是英國的健康狀況？您能幫助我們了解那裡最有影響力的驅動因素是什麼嗎？謝謝。

And I think the headline of the kind of leverage that is the opportunity that exists in full-service is that enrollment is the -- it has the most momentum to drive in that improving leverage. We did have a headwind from our above. Obviously, that took down what we even realized. But with the average of mid-single digits enrollment gain, and the continued pricing power for that, those are the main drivers, I think the UK's improvement and the improving cost structure that goes along with that amplified the benefit in the quarter in particular. But I'd say those are the primary drivers.

我認為這種槓桿作用的標題是全方位服務中存在的機會，那就是入學是——它最有動力推動槓桿率的提高。我們確實遇到了來自上方的逆風。顯然，這消除了我們所意識到的。但隨著平均中個位數的入學率增長，以及持續的定價能力，這些是主要驅動因素，我認為英國的改善和隨之而來的成本結構的改善尤其放大了本季度的收益。但我想說這些是主要驅動因素。

But just as a small note, the overhead that we've talked about and after we get through this year, it'll just be baked into the way that we look at it. But there is tell you about 50 to 75 basis points or so of benefit in Q3 that is related to how the overhead is spread between the segments and in the first half of the year versus the second half. So there's more of a headwind for full service in the second half, and it has this little bit of benefit of 50 to 75 bps in Q2. So that's the only -- that's the other thing I'd point out on that 6.5% or so that we reported.

但就像一個小註釋，我們已經討論過的開銷，在我們度過今年之後，它就會融入我們看待它的方式中。但據悉，第三季的收益大約有 50 到 75 個基點左右，這與管理費用在各部門之間的分配方式以及上半年與下半年的情況有關。因此，下半年全面服務面臨更多阻力，但第二季有 50 至 75 個基點的一點好處。這是唯一的——這是我要指出的關於我們報告的 6.5% 左右的另一件事。

Okay, that's a good point. Thank you for that. And then on the UK, what's the level of embedded profitability improvement now within the updated guidance that you just said put out?

好的，這是一個好點。謝謝你。那麼在英國，在您剛才所說的更新指導中，現在的嵌入式獲利能力改善水準是多少？

So as a reminder, we talked about the challenge in the UK full service business in particular. And last year, the that business lost around $30 million. And we had come into this year looking for -- frankly, I think we were not only looking for improvement, but expecting that proved improvement to be fairly back-end weighted. We know that the beginning part of the year would be part of the ramping in and realizing some of the benefits of the initiatives that have been underway.

因此，作為提醒，我們特別討論了英國全方位服務業務的挑戰。去年，該業務損失了約 3,000 萬美元。我們今年開始尋找——坦白說，我認為我們不僅在尋找改進，而且期望事實證明改進是相當後端加權的。我們知道，今年年初將是逐步推進並實現正在進行的舉措的一些好處的一部分。

Some of those have come sooner than expected, but we did plan for improvement throughout the year. At this point with this outperformance that earlier on outperformance of that, we'd probably be in the mid teens from $30 million to close to half that in is what is assumed in the outlook for the rest of the year. So still it's still a headwind still -- it was 200 basis points last quarter and probably 100 to 200 basis points in the current quarter still. So it is still a headwind, but improving and done, and we feel good about that progress.

其中一些比預期來得早，但我們確實計劃全年進行改進。在這一點上，如果我們的表現優於先前的表現，我們的收入可能會從 3000 萬美元到接近今年剩餘時間前景的一半。因此，這仍然是一個逆風——上個季度為 200 個基點，本季可能為 100 至 200 個基點。因此，這仍然是一個逆風，但正在改進並完成，我們對這一進展感到滿意。

Great. And congrats again on the quarter, and thank you for your time.

偉大的。再次恭喜本季度，感謝您抽出時間。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Jeff Silber, BMO Capital Markets.

Jeff Silber，BMO 資本市場。

Thanks so much. I wanted to focus on the center closures. If I look over the past few quarters, it looks like you've been ramping up the number of centers that you're closing. I'm assuming that they're mostly in this lower occupancy cohort. If you could just confirm that. And I'm just wondering how they dispersed geographically. And if you could just also tell us where you think you'll end up the number of year, the number of centers that are going to be closed this year? Thanks.

非常感謝。我想重點關注中心的關閉。如果我回顧過去幾個季度，看起來你們一直在增加要關閉的中心數量。我假設他們大多屬於入住率較低的族群。如果你能證實這一點就好了。我只是想知道他們在地理上是如何分散的。如果您也能告訴我們您認為最終會在哪裡，今年將關閉多少個中心？謝謝。

Yes. So we had started out the year looking at closing somewhere between 40 and 50 centers. And I would say we're still in that range. We've closed about 30 so far in the first half. First quarter was a little bit more UK weighted second quarters, a little bit more US weighted. But broadly speaking of those closures, about 40% are in the UK and 60% in the US.

是的。因此，我們在今年伊始就考慮關閉 40 到 50 個中心。我想說我們仍然在這個範圍內。上半場到目前為止，我們已經關閉了大約 30 個。第一季英國權重稍高，第二季美國權重稍高。但總體而言，這些關閉的工廠中，大約 40% 在英國，60% 在美國。

To answer your question about where are they in the cohorts, I think there is a mix of them in the lower -- lowest performing cohort, the under 40% occupied, but there still are a number of particularly those that we've circled up in the UK. We're in that middle cohort because the economics of some of those centers, even some that were reasonably well enrolled are in that 40% to 70% enrolled still were not economically feasible in terms of the overall occupancy that we get ever attained. Some of the centers in the UK are quite small and depend on a very high level of occupancy to be and to be economically feasible.

為了回答你關於他們在隊列中的位置的問題，我認為他們混合存在於表現較差的隊列中，即 40% 以下的人中，但仍然有一些特別是我們圈出的群體在英國。我們處於中間隊列，因為其中一些中心的經濟狀況，甚至是一些入學率相當高的中心，就我們所達到的總體入住率而言，40% 到 70% 的入學率在經濟上仍然不可行。英國的一些中心規模相當小，並且依賴非常高的入住率才能在經濟上可行。

So we've been judicious about what we're closing and trying to look at where we can both combine, and we call it rationalization in part because there are locations where we can combine families into nearby centers or we're opportunistic, because there's a lease action that allows us to exit a lower performance center and combine enrollment to to make others more and some are more feasible. And it may not always be just the under underperforming -- the most underperforming from a utilization standpoint.

因此，我們對我們要關閉的項目一直很明智，並試圖尋找我們可以合併的地方，我們稱之為合理化，部分原因是我們可以在某些地方將家庭合併到附近的中心，或者我們是機會主義的，因為有一項租賃行動，使我們能夠退出績效較低的中心，並將註冊人數合併起來，以使其他中心變得更加可行，而有些中心則更加可行。而且它可能並不總是表現不佳的——從利用率的角度來看，表現最差的。

All right. That's really helpful. And if I could switch gears to some of the new center openings. I know it's a long sales cycle, but we're starting to see signs of a calling labor market. And I'm just wondering how your conversations are going with potential new customers? Are they still really excited about potentially opening up new centers? Or do you see some of them holding back, given what's going on in the labor market?Thanks.

好的。這真的很有幫助。如果我可以切換到一些新的中心空位。我知道這是一個很長的銷售週期，但我們開始看到勞動市場的跡象。我只是想知道您與潛在新客戶的對話進度如何？他們仍然對開設新中心感到興奮嗎？或者考慮到勞動力市場的現狀，您是否看到他們中的一些人猶豫不決？

Yes, it's a great question. So I think, look, the conversation we've had perspective center clients continue to be strong. There continues to be good interest out there in terms of at least exploring understanding that this is both along sales cycle but it also is reflective of long term decision making because, again, once someone opens a center, they generally are opening that center with a long-term commitment. So I would say that last quarter, for example, was a number of the openings were transitioned. This quarter, a number of them were new builds. But in terms of the sort of texture of the pipeline I would say we certainly are more heavily weighted towards transitions.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。所以我認為，看，我們與觀點中心客戶的對話仍然很激烈。人們仍然很感興趣，至少探索理解這不僅是沿著銷售週期的，而且也反映了長期決策的製定，因為，一旦有人開設了一個中心，他們通常會以長期承諾。所以我想說，例如，上個季度，許多空缺職位都改變了。本季度，其中一些是新建的。但就管道的質地而言，我想說我們當然更注重過渡。

So those are existing centers that are self-operated typically by healthcare organizations or universities. And so again, I think those conversations continue to be strong on the basis that they've been through a very difficult period of operations. By and large, they recognize that they may benefit from having an expert operator. And so rather than closing, which they are not minded to do, they are considering a third-party operator like ourselves. And we're very well positioned as they make those decisions to capitalize on it given our strong leadership position.

這些都是現有的中心，通常由醫療機構或大學自行運作。再說一次，我認為這些對話仍然很激烈，因為它們經歷了非常困難的營運時期。總的來說，他們認識到擁有專業操作員可能會讓他們受益匪淺。因此，他們並沒有關閉（他們不介意這樣做），而是考慮像我們這樣的第三方營運商。鑑於我們強大的領導地位，我們處於非常有利的位置，因為他們做出這些決定來利用它。

That was very helpful. Thanks so much for the color.

這非常有幫助。非常感謝你的顏色。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Stephanie Moore, Jefferies.

史蒂芬妮·摩爾，杰弗里斯。

Hey this is [herlon] on for Stephanie Moore. On the UK business and as you know, in terms of pricing conversations that you have in there, I know you seeing some better enrollment on you could just elaborate a little bit more. And then I guess if you could, what's the average occupancy rate that you have in that geography?

嘿，這是斯蒂芬妮·摩爾的[赫倫]。關於英國業務，如您所知，就您在那裡進行的定價對話而言，我知道您看到一些更好的註冊情況，您可以詳細說明。然後我想如果可以的話，該地區的平均入住率是多少？

Yeah, I think if I got the question right, the on the average occupancy in the UK is a little bit lower than the our overall averages in the low low 60s to mid 60s, actually in the second quarter, it's on the in the mid 60s, but for the year would be up low to mid. 60s. The UK is, as I say, a little bit lower than that on average by a couple of points. So not not dramatically different. The centers tend to be a little bit smaller on average. So the numbers of children that go along with that utilization is somewhat different.

是的，我想如果我問得對的話，英國的平均入住率比我們在 60 年代低至 60 年代中期的總體平均水平要低一些，實際上在第二季度，它是在 60 年代中期。年代，但今年將上升到中低水平。 60年代。正如我所說，英國比平均水平低了幾個百分點。所以並不是沒有顯著的差異。平均而言，這些中心往往要小一些。因此，參與這種利用的兒童數量有所不同。

From a pricing standpoint, it's actually very similar to the overall averages where we've been able to see price increases. Although the decisions are made locally and very individually for centers on average. We've done a about a 5% increase in the UK as well. We certainly have seen there from a wage standpoint, a similar dynamic to the US where we have seen wages escalating faster than price in the past couple of years and been catching up on that with the pricing decisions we've made recently.

從定價的角度來看，它實際上與我們能夠看到價格上漲的整體平均值非常相似。儘管這些決定是在當地做出的，而且平均而言對於中心來說是非常個體化的。我們在英國也增加了約 5%。我們當然從薪資的角度看到了這一點，這與美國的動態類似，過去幾年我們看到薪資上漲速度快於價格上漲，而我們最近做出的定價決策正在趕上這一趨勢。

But the I think the market there has been more challenge on the labor side, and we were more reliant on agency staff. So our labor costs were a bit higher because of the composition of the labor. And now that's coming more into a right-sized structure.

但我認為市場在勞動力方面面臨更多挑戰，我們更依賴代理人員。所以我們的勞動成本因為勞動的組成有點高。現在，它正在變得更加合適大小的結構。

Thank you. That's all from me.

謝謝。這就是我的全部。

(Operator Instructions) Toni Kaplan, Morgan Stanley.

（操作員指示）Toni Kaplan，摩根士丹利。

Thank you. And maybe just following up on the topic of price increases. And I guess when do you start communicating next year's price increases to clients? Is it just January 1 or they get the bill are already discussed sort of ahead of time? And also with regard to camp, do you typically raise camp prices by a similar percentage to the school increase?

謝謝。也許只是跟進價格上漲的話題。我猜你是什麼時候開始向客戶傳達明年的價格上漲？是只是 1 月 1 日還是他們已經提前討論過該法案了？另外，關於營地，您通常是否會將營地價格提高到與學校漲價類似的百分比？

Yeah. So Tony, a large number of our price increases go into effect in January, and we tend to like to give families of, call it 60 days notice ahead of when that price increase is going to happen. I do think it's important to recognize that as children age up right, their actual out of pocket tuition fee goes down. That's across the industry, right? The child ages up and the ratios expand, we do see a natural decrease. So well, we do provide them the insight on the increase on call it 60 days ahead. They're also recognizing, in many cases as their child ages up a lower actual out of pocket expense associated with our service.

是的。東尼，我們的大部分價格上漲都會在一月份生效，我們傾向於在價格上漲發生之前提前 60 天向家庭發出通知。我確實認為重要的是要認識到，隨著孩子年齡的增長，他們的實際自付費用會下降。整個產業都是如此，對嗎？隨著孩子年齡的增長，比率擴大，我們確實看到自然下降。好吧，我們確實提前 60 天向他們提供了有關成長的見解。他們也意識到，在許多情況下，隨著孩子年齡的增長，與我們的服務相關的實際自付費用會降低。

So I would say 60 days is the standard. In terms of camps, again, we operate under the brand of Stephen Kay. And the Stephen Kate's camp generally is during the summer, although we are offering more schools out type break amps as well. That is typically only aligned with backup care for our summer camps. And again, typically those decisions happen annually in and they happen ahead of when the season actually starts. So it's not really about communication as much as the prices is shared when individual retail families are interested in the service.

所以我想說60天是標準。在營地方面，我們再次以史蒂芬凱（Stephen Kay）的品牌經營。史蒂芬凱特的訓練營通常在夏季進行，儘管我們也為更多學校提供了外置式煞車擴大機。這通常只與我們夏令營的後備護理保持一致。再說一次，這些決定通常每年都會發生，並且會在賽季實際開始之前發生。因此，這並不是真正的溝通問題，而是當各個零售家庭對服務感興趣時，價格是共享的。

And the only thing I'd add to that on the client question is we typically are going through an annual budget conversation with clients who are sponsoring a center, and they are participating with us on what the relative support that they want to provide for a center. So we will outline what we see as the price increase that's necessary given the on the cost environment and particularly, the labor environment and the expected enrollment in the center and what that translates to in terms of their subsidy.

關於客戶問題，我唯一要補充的是，我們通常會與贊助中心的客戶進行年度預算對話，他們正在與我們一起討論他們希望為中心提供的相對支持。因此，我們將概述我們認為考慮到成本環境，特別是勞動力環境和中心的預期入學人數以及這在補貼方面的必要性，價格上漲是必要的。

And then the client can make a decision about if they want to support more or car share more with the families. And so how that price is affecting the families is ultimately a joint decision that we are making with the clients. And so that's more than the 60 days ahead of time because that budget cycle intensive, if it's on a calendar basis, it would be going on anywhere from now until late fall.

然後客戶可以決定是否要提供更多支援或與家人共享更多汽車。因此，這個價格如何影響家庭最終是我們與客戶共同做出的決定。所以這比提前 60 天還多，因為預算週期密集，如果按照日曆計算，它會從現在開始一直持續到秋末。

Understood. And then, Elizabeth, in the prior six quarters, you closed a net of 37 centers, but your capacity had stayed there 120,000 in this quarter, you closed 12 centers net but lowered capacity by 5,000. And so I was wondering if they were particularly large centers that were closed this quarter? Or was this just rounding and a function of just rounding?

明白了。然後，Elizabeth，在之前的 6 個季度中，您淨關閉了 37 個中心，但容量仍保持在 120,000 個，本季度您淨關閉了 12 個中心，但容量減少了 5,000 個。所以我想知道它們是否是本季關閉的特別大型中心？還是這只是四捨五入和四捨五入的函數？

Just rounding, Tony. The learning centers capacity has been, as you would imagine, on a net basis, slowly slowly shrinking with those closures, and we just rounded down to 115.

只是四捨五入，托尼。正如您所想像的那樣，隨著這些關閉，學習中心的淨容量一直在慢慢縮小，我們只是向下舍入到 115。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Faiza Alwy, Deutsche Bank.

Faiza Alwy，德意志銀行。

Yes, hi, thank you. I wanted to follow up on the question around food service margins. And I was wondering if you could share with us like how the US centers are performing from a margin perspective? And secondly, any color you can provide around margins for the various Cohort one, I think at one point you had talked about the cohorts that are above 70% enrolled are at margins that are that are in line with pre-COVID levels or near? And could you give us just some from some color on how things have trended just focusing on the US business in particular?

是的，嗨，謝謝。我想跟進有關餐飲服務利潤的問題。我想知道您是否可以與我們分享美國中心從利潤角度的表現如何？其次，您可以為各個隊列的利潤提供任何顏色，我認為您曾經談到註冊率超過 70% 的隊列的利潤與新冠疫情前的水平一致或接近？您能否給我們一些關於僅關注美國業務的趨勢的一些資訊？

Sure. So I'll -- we don't break out margins specifically by geography, but I think having having outlined that the full service margins are experiencing a headwind from the UK business in the range of 100 to 200 basis points, I think that gives you some insight into the US performance, not being better than the UK by some measure.

當然。因此，我們不會專門按地理位置細分利潤率，但我認為，在概述了全方位服務利潤率正在經歷英國業務 100 至 200 個基點範圍內的逆風之後，我認為這給出了您可以對美國的表現有所了解，從某些角度來看，美國的表現並不比英國好。

And I think other than the general size of our other international businesses, both the Netherlands and Australia, they're relatively smaller components of full service. So they don't have a fully leveraged or rationalized overhead structure for the size of those businesses as we continue to scale. And so in that way, the US full-service business is out there front end of the overall margins and probably best to just some correlated with the UK headwind to get some sense of that. I think as we as we look ahead and to the rest of the year are we had this step down of performance to low low digits compared to the first half of the year.

我認為，除了我們其他國際業務（荷蘭和澳洲）的整體規模之外，它們是全方位服務的相對較小的組成部分。因此，隨著我們繼續擴大規模，他們沒有針對這些業務規模的充分槓桿化或合理化的管理費用結構。因此，透過這種方式，美國的全方位服務業務處於整體利潤率的前端，並且可能最好只與英國的逆風相關聯，以便對此有所了解。我認為，當我們展望未來和今年剩餘時間時，與上半年相比，我們的業績下降到了低點。

But overall, we would be, from a cohort standpoint, as you say that the top performing centers, those that are over 70% occupied are effectively back to where we were operating in the pre-COVID era. Those centers -- obviously, that group of centers continues to evolve and change. So some centers that have been in the mid cohort and have improved their enrollment are in the top cohort now. There's an ever-changing mix of centers that are in each of these cohorts. And so the performance isn't static, but that top-performing group is effectively back.

但總的來說，從隊列的角度來看，正如您所說，那些表現最好的中心，那些入住率超過 70% 的中心實際上已經回到了我們在新冠疫情之前的運作狀態。這些中心——顯然，這組中心不斷發展和變化。因此，一些處於中等隊列並提高了入學率的中心現在屬於頂級隊列。每個隊列中的中心組合都在不斷變化。因此，表現並不是一成不變的，但表現最好的團隊實際上又回來了。

And then the middle cohort, which is those that are 40% to 70% occupied, they're making good progress. Obviously, both they overall averages in the low 60s to mid mid 60s on enrollment, that mid cohort would be a bit behind that. But we will still see them exiting '24 in the mid-single digits plus EBIT margin range. And so that headwind and full services really are primarily attributable to those that are the lowest performing cohort and continuing to get progress on getting those -- getting enrollment and having more centers come into the middle group and rationalizing the portfolio where we don't see what a path forward will help us continue to make progress back to that high single to 10% operating margin and full-service overtime.

然後是中間群體，佔 40% 到 70% 的人，他們正在取得良好的進展。顯然，他們的入學平均水平都在 60 多歲到 60 多歲中，中間群體會有點落後。但我們仍會看到他們在 24 年退出時的息稅前利潤率將達到中個位數。因此，逆風和全面的服務確實主要歸因於那些表現最低的群體，並在獲得這些方面繼續取得進展——獲得註冊，讓更多的中心進入中間群體，並在我們沒有看到的情況下合理化投資組合什麼樣的前進道路將幫助我們繼續取得進展，回到 10% 的高單營運利潤率和全方位服務加班。

Great. Thank you, very helpful. And then I just wanted to follow up on backup, you alluded to mix of business that maybe helped margins this quarter. So just remind us about your own mix and sort of what might be some of the factors there in backup?

偉大的。謝謝你，非常有幫助。然後我只想跟進備份，您提到了可能有助於本季度利潤的業務組合。那麼請提醒我們您自己的組合以及備份中可能有哪些因素呢？

Yeah, the primary reference there is the amount of use that we're able to serve in centers and our own controls providers versus in-home care. And so that mix has continued to migrate away from in-home back to really the levels that we had seen pre-COVID, which would be something like a third of the use being at home and two thirds not being at home. And so that that improving mix has has driven that just relatively lower provider fee mix, which is the sort of cost of delivery.

是的，主要參考是我們能夠在中心和我們自己的控制提供者與家庭護理中提供服務的使用量。因此，這種混合繼續從居家狀態恢復到新冠疫情爆發前的水平，即三分之一的使用是在家中使用，三分之二的使用是不在家使用。因此，這種改進的組合推動了相對較低的提供者費用組合，這就是交付成本。

That's great. Thank you so much welcome.

那太棒了。非常感謝您的歡迎。

Okay. Thank you very much for for joining the call this evening. I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the summer.

好的。非常感謝您參加今晚的電話會議。我希望每個人都能度過一個愉快的暑假。

Thanks, everyone.

謝謝大家。

Thank you. This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。