Bright Horizons Family Solutions Reports 23% Revenue, 21% Net Income Growth; New Centers for GE Medical Systems and the IMF.

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 2001

Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFAM) today announced financial results for the quarter March 31, 2001.

Revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2001 increased 23% to $81.7 million from $66.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2000. Net income increased 21% to $2.8 million, or $.22 per diluted share, in the quarter ended March 31, 2001 from $2.3 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, in the same 2000 period.

"We are very pleased to see the year off to such a strong start," said Roger Brown, Chief Executive Officer of Bright Horizons. "We opened seven net new Family Centers this quarter, including our tenth center for J.P. Morgan Chase and our sixth center for MBNA America. We also opened new centers for the International Monetary Fund, NCR, GE Medical Systems and IBM," commented Brown.

"Demand for work-site child care and other work/life solutions is strong, reflected in both our current revenue growth and in net additions to our pipeline of new centers. Our pipeline now stands at well over 60 centers in 26 states across the United States and in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada, with commitments from clients in such diverse industries as pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, technology and consumer products. Enrollment in our centers is at an all time high and we now have the capacity to serve 44,000 children."

"This quarter also marked the official kickoff of our partnership with UAW, Ford, Visteon and ZF Batavia," continued Brown. "Construction is now underway on the first two of what we expect to eventually be 13 Family Centers, our largest initial commitment by a client to date. Bright Horizons has also developed a nationwide family child care network for these companies, covering 22 key U.S. markets. The network, which began offering services in March of this year, is the largest private sector child care network in the country, second only to the U.S. military's network."

"As retention tools such as appreciated stock options lose their luster, work-site child care and other work/life services become more important than ever in the retention and productivity of high performance employees," Brown concluded.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions will be hosting an investor conference call today at 4:30 pm EDT. The public is invited to listen to the conference call by dialing 973-628-9554. Replays of the entire call will be available through Friday, April 27, 2001 at 402-220-1169. Visit the Bright Horizons Family Solutions Web site at www.brighthorizons.com.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions is the world's leading provider of employer-sponsored child care, early education and work/life consulting services, managing more than 350 family centers in the United States, Europe and the Pacific Rim. Bright Horizons serves more than 275 clients, including 81 FORTUNE 500 companies and 44 of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers," as recognized by Working Mother magazine. Bright Horizons was recently named one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For in America" by FORTUNE magazine.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Bright Horizons Family Solutions' actual results may vary significantly from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including the ability of the Company to execute contracts relating to new commitments, to enroll families in new as well as existing centers, and to open new centers for clients who control construction, as well as other factors that are discussed in detail in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the "Risk Factors" section in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000.

                   Bright Horizons Family Solutions
                    Selected Financial Information
                              (Unaudited)
                 (in thousands except per share data)


                                        Three months ended
                                  03/31/2001           03/31/2000

Revenues                     $ 81,736    100.0%   $ 66,622    100.0%

Cost of services               69,518     85.1%     56,840     85.3%
Gross profit                   12,218     14.9%      9,782     14.7%

Selling, general and
 administrative expenses        6,766      8.2%      5,543      8.3%
Amortization                      582      0.7%        362      0.6%


Income from operations          4,870      6.0%      3,877      5.8%

Net interest (expense) income     (74)    -0.1%         75      0.1%

Income before income taxes      4,796      5.9%      3,952      5.9%

Income tax provision           (2,007)    -2.5%     (1,640)    -2.4%

Net income                   $  2,789      3.4%   $  2,312      3.5%


Per share data:
Net income per share
 - basic                       $ 0.23               $ 0.20
Weighted average
 number of common
 shares outstanding            12,085               11,820

Net income per share
 - diluted                     $ 0.22               $ 0.19
Weighted average
 number of common and
 common equivalent shares      12,741               12,322