BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 19, 2000--Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:BFAM) today announced financial results for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2000.

Earnings per diluted share of $0.18 in the quarter ended September 30, 2000 increased 20% from $0.15 per diluted share for the quarter ended September 30, 1999. Revenues for the current period increased 22% to $74.5 million from $61.1 million for the quarter ended September 30, 1999. Net income for the third quarter ended September 30, 2000 increased 20% to $2.3 million from $1.9 million in the third quarter of 1999.

Earnings per diluted share of $0.57 for the nine months ended September 30, 2000 increased 24% from $0.46 per diluted share for the nine months ended September 30, 1999. Revenues for the first nine months of 2000 increased 18% to $213.2 million from $180.6 million for the same period in 1999. Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2000 increased 21% to $7.1 million from $5.9 million in 1999.

"We opened a net total of 9 new family centers this quarter," commented Roger Brown, Chief Executive Officer, "including our first center for Cisco Systems. Cisco Family Connection features state-of-the-art technology and communications systems in the large - over 430 capacity - facility in Milpitas, California. In addition to this innovative program, we added new family centers for Georgia Pacific, Timberland Company, Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Wizards of the Coast, the National Science Foundation and the Las Vegas Water District this quarter. The trend toward single-client, multiple-site networks of family centers is continuing, as highlighted by the opening this quarter of our third center for Merck & Co. and two additional centers for Prudential Insurance."

"These new centers span a wide range of industries" continued Brown, "including technology, financial services, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods and government agencies. The demand for high quality child care and early education continues to expand. These new clients, who join our more than 250 companies currently serving their employees' work/life needs, have invested in becoming the employers of choice in their industries and recognize the ability of our services to drive down turnover, attract promising new employees and boost productivity."

"Two recently completed surveys confirm the success of our quality service mission," continued Brown. "First, in our annual survey of parents served by our programs, 98.1% reported that were highly satisfied or satisfied with the quality of care and education of their children, our highest quality rating since we began the surveys seven years ago. Second, in a "kindergarten readiness" study involving parents and kindergarten teachers of Bright Horizons Family Solutions center graduates, kindergarten teachers rated over 80% of Bright Horizons graduates as average or above average in all areas of cognitive, social and emotional development. In addition, over 90% of our graduates were so rated in two key areas that correlate with later academic success - reading and math. Our ability to measure and evaluate school readiness, which is increasingly important to parents and clients, enables us to demonstrate the long term benefits of the quality experience that children and families have in our centers, through programs which include our unique curriculum - The World at Their Fingertips. We are gratified by the results of these two surveys, and we are determined to continue to work very hard to meet the needs of our clients and their families."

Bright Horizons Family Solutions is the world's leading provider of employer-sponsored child care, early education and work/life consulting services, managing 334 family centers in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Pacific Rim. Bright Horizons serves more than 250 clients, including 77 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 "200 Best Small Companies in America" by Forbes magazine.

Join us on our investor conference call today at 4:30 pm EDT. The call-in number is 973-872-3100, and replays will be available through Thursday, November 3rd at 402-220-0513. Visit the Bright Horizons Family Solutions website at www.brighthorizons.com.

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 and to expand and operate effectively and profitably in the international market, 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 Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ending June 30, 2000 and Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999.

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

                                        Three months ended
                                 09/30/2000          09/30/1999

Revenues                      $74,504    100.0%  $61,139     100.0%

Cost of services               63,889     85.8%   52,774      86.3%
Gross profit                   10,615     14.2%    8,365      13.7%

Selling, general and
 administrative expenses        6,245      8.4%    5,172       8.5%
Amortization                      527      0.6%      229       0.4%


Income from operations          3,843      5.2%    2,964       4.8%

Net interest income                38      0.1%      211       0.4%

Income before income taxes      3,881      5.3%    3,175       5.2%

Income tax provision           (1,621)    -2.3%   (1,299)     -2.1%

Net income                     $2,260      3.0%   $1,876       3.1%


Per share data:
Net income per
 share - basic                  $0.19              $0.15
Weighted average
 number of common
 shares outstanding            11,914             12,104

Net income per
 share - diluted                $0.18              $0.15
Weighted average
 number of common
 and common
 equivalent shares             12,667             12,608


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


                                         Nine months ended
                                   09/30/2000          09/30/1999

Revenues                     $ 213,192     100.0% $ 180,560    100.0%

Cost of services               182,035      85.4%   154,957     85.8%
Gross profit                    31,157      14.6%    25,603     14.2%

Selling, general and
 administrative expenses        17,834       8.4%    15,566      8.6%
Amortization                     1,369       0.6%       675      0.4%


Income from operations          11,954       5.6%     9,362      5.2%

Net interest income                162       0.1%       567      0.3%

Income before income taxes      12,116       5.7%     9,929      5.5%

Income tax provision            (5,045)     -2.4%    (4,069)    -2.3%

Net income                      $7,071       3.3%    $5,860      3.2%


Per share data:
Net income
 per share - basic               $0.60                $0.49
Weighted average
 number of common
 shares outstanding             11,857               11,996

Net income
 per share - diluted             $0.57                $0.46
Weighted average
 number of common
 and common
 equivalent shares              12,445               12,699