dicks.com for approximately 12 months.
We now expect to deliver comp sales of over 20% for 2021, and remain very confident in the long-term prospects of our business.
This allowed us to quickly capitalize on athlete needs and strong consumer demand throughout 2020, and deliver our full-year comp sales increase of nearly 10%.
We announced today that we've raised our full-year guidance for the third time this year, and now expect our comp sales to increase between 24% and 25%.
Consolidated same-store sales increased 12.2% on top of a 23.2% increase in the same period of last year, and a 6% increase in Q3 2019.
Driven by our strong sales and gross margin rate expansion, on a non-GAAP basis, our third quarter earnings per diluted share of $3.19, increased 59% over last year and 513% over Q3 2019.
We're continuing to see strong retention of the 8.5 million new athletes we acquired last year, and we added another 1.7 million new athletes during this quarter.
During the quarter, we expanded our merchandise margin rate by 301 basis points versus 2020 and by 578 basis points versus 2019.
During the quarter, our brick-and-mortar stores comped up approximately 15% versus last year and delivered a 31% sales increase when compared to 2019.
Importantly, our stores continue to be the hub of our omnichannel strategy, enabling over 90% of our total sales and fulfilling approximately 70% of our online sales in Q3.
During the quarter, we were pleased to deliver online sales growth of 1%, which was on top of a 95% increase in the same period last year.
Our online sales remained substantially above pre-COVID levels, increasing nearly 100% when compared to the same period in 2019.
We are rooted in sport and can showcase an entire brand of portfolio, including apparel, footwear and hard lines across our over 800 stores and online.
First, we remain very pleased with our first 2 DICK's House of Sport stores in Rochester and Knoxville.
We ordered aggressively to get ahead of this disruption and our quarter ending inventory levels increased 7.3% compared to the end of the same period last year.
Prior to DICK's, Navdeep spent 11 years at Advance Auto Parts in various leadership roles, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Finance.
Like Lauren said, we are excited to report a consolidated sales increase of 13.9% to approximately $2.75 billion.
Consolidated same-store sales increased 12.2% on top of a 23.2% increase in the same period last year, and a 6% increase in Q3 of 2019.
Our strong comps were driven by growth across each of our three primary categories of hardlines, apparel and footwear, as well as an 8.5% increase in transaction and a 3.7% increase in average ticket.
When compared to 2019, consolidated sales increased 40%.
Our brick-and-mortar stores comped up approximately 15% versus 2020, and delivered a 31% sales increase when compared to 2019, with roughly the same square footage.
Our eCommerce sales increased 1% versus last year on top of a 95% online sales increase in the third quarter of 2020.
Compared to Q3 of 2019, our eCommerce sales increased 97%.
As a percent of total net sales, our online business has grown from 13% in 2019% to 19% in the current quarter.
eCommerce penetration was 21% last year.
Gross profit in the third quarter was $1.06 billion, or 38.45% of net sales, and improved 354 basis points compared to last year.
This improvement was driven by merchandise margin rate expansion of 301 basis points and leverage on fixed occupancy costs of 111 basis points from sales increase.
Compared to 2019, gross profit as a percent of net sales improved 886 basis points, driven by merchandise margin rate expansion of 578 basis points due to fewer promotions, as well as leverage on fixed occupancy costs of 370 basis points, which again was partially offset by higher freight costs.
SG&A expenses were $631.9 million, or 23% of net sales, however, leveraged 151 basis points compared to last year due primarily to the increase in sales.
SG&A dollars increased $40.8 million, due primarily to current year cost increases to support the growth in sales.
In the prior year quarter, SG&A included $43 million of COVID-related costs.
Compared to 2019 and on a non-GAAP basis, SG&A expenses as a percentage of net sales leveraged 325 basis points due primarily to the increase in sales.
SG&A dollars increased $116.8 million due to increase in store payroll and operating expenses to support the increase in sales, as well as hourly wage rate investments.
Driven by our strong sales and gross margin rate expansion, non-GAAP EBT was $415.6 million, or 15.12% of net sales, and increased $171.8 million, or 501 basis points from the same period last year.
Compared to 2019, non-GAAP EBT increased $355.6 million, or approximately 1,200 basis points as a percentage of net sales.
In total, we delivered a non-GAAP earnings per diluted share of $3.19.
This compares to a non-GAAP earnings per diluted share of $2.01 last year, a 59% year-over-year increase, and a non-GAAP earnings per diluted share of $0.52 in 2019, a 513% increase.
On a GAAP basis, our earnings per diluted share were $2.78.
This included $7.7 million in non-cash interest expense, as well as 12.8 million additional shares that we have designed to be offset by our bond hedge at settlement, but are required in the GAAP diluted share calculation.
We are in a strong financial position, ending Q3 with approximately $1.37 billion of cash and cash equivalents, and no borrowings on our $1.855 billion revolving credit facility.
Our quarter-end inventory levels increased 7.3% compared to end of Q3 last year.
During the quarter, net capital expenditures were $54.1 million.
We paid $503 million in dividends, which included a special dividend of $5.50 per share that we announced last quarter.
We also repurchased 2.17 million shares of our stock for approximately $273 million at an average price of $125.80.
We have approximately $605 million remaining under our share repurchase program.
Year-to-date, we have returned nearly $1 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.
Taking this into account, along with our significant Q3 results, an expectation of a continued strong consumer demand and our confidence in our ability to navigate the global supply chain challenges, we are raising our consolidated same-store sales guidance and now expect the full-year comp sales to increase by 20% to 25% compared to our prior expectation of up 18% to 20%.
This is on top of 9.9% increase in consolidated same-store sales last year and a 3.7% increase in 2019.
At the midpoint, our updated comp sales guidance represents a 39% sales increase versus 2019 compared to our prior expectation of up 33%.
On a non-GAAP EBT basis, we expect the full-year results to be in the range of $1.89 billion to $1.92 billion compared to our prior outlook of $1.61 billion to $1.67 billion, which at midpoint and on a non-GAAP basis is up 333% versus 2019 and up 160% versus 2020.
At the midpoint, non-GAAP EBT margin is expected to be approximately 15.7%.
In total, we are raising our full-year non-GAAP earnings per diluted share outlook to a range of $14.60 to $14.80, compared to our prior outlook of $12.45 to $12.95.
At the midpoint and on a non-GAAP basis, our updated earnings per share guidance is up 298% versus 2019 and up 140% versus 2020.

Consolidated same-store sales increased 12.2% on top of a 23.2% increase in the same period of last year, and a 6% increase in Q3 2019.
Driven by our strong sales and gross margin rate expansion, on a non-GAAP basis, our third quarter earnings per diluted share of $3.19, increased 59% over last year and 513% over Q3 2019.
We ordered aggressively to get ahead of this disruption and our quarter ending inventory levels increased 7.3% compared to the end of the same period last year.
Like Lauren said, we are excited to report a consolidated sales increase of 13.9% to approximately $2.75 billion.
Consolidated same-store sales increased 12.2% on top of a 23.2% increase in the same period last year, and a 6% increase in Q3 of 2019.
In total, we delivered a non-GAAP earnings per diluted share of $3.19.
On a GAAP basis, our earnings per diluted share were $2.78.
Our quarter-end inventory levels increased 7.3% compared to end of Q3 last year.
In total, we are raising our full-year non-GAAP earnings per diluted share outlook to a range of $14.60 to $14.80, compared to our prior outlook of $12.45 to $12.95.


We reported revenue of $230.1 million during the first quarter of 2021, which represents an increase of 17.1%, compared to $196.6 million during the first quarter of 2020.
We reported net income of $7.9 million or $0.24 per diluted share for the three months ended January 31, 2021, compared to $10,000 or $0.00 per diluted share during the three months ended January 31, 2020.
The increase in net income was somewhat offset by a $6.7 million increase in SG&A during the quarter, $4.6 million of which was related to the valuation of our stock-based comp awards, mainly due to an increase in our stock price, and $1.6 million of which was due to higher medical claims.
On an adjusted basis, net income increased to $9 million or $0.27 per diluted share during the first quarter of 2021, compared to $1.2 million or $0.04 per diluted share during the first quarter of 2020.
On an adjusted basis, EBITDA for the quarter increased by 55.4% to $24.3 million, compared to $15.7 million during the same period of last year.
From a margin standpoint, this increase represents adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of approximately 260 basis points.
Cash used for operating activities was $3.4 million during the three months ended January 31, 2021, and compared to $3.7 million for the three months ended January 31, 2020.
In fact, we did not need to borrow on our revolver during the quarter and still managed to both repay $5 million in bank debt and repurchase approximately $1.9 million of our stock.
Our balance sheet is strong, our liquidity position is solid, and our leverage ratio of net debt to last 12 months adjusted EBITDA is unchanged at 0.6 times as of January 31, 2021.
Based on our strong first-quarter results and ongoing conversations with our customers, we are raising our expectations for the year and now expect approximately 12% sales growth in our North American fenestration segment, approximately 5% sales growth in our North American cabinet components segment and approximately 22% sales growth in our European fenestration segment.
We're now comfortable providing the following full-year 2021 guidance: Net sales of $945 million to $965 million; adjusted EBITDA of $112 million to $122 million; depreciation of approximately $33 million; amortization of approximately $14 million; SG&A of approximately $105 million.
Note that this is higher than previously expected due to an increase in stock-based comp expense and more normalized medical costs; interest expense of $3 million to $4 million; a tax rate of 26% to 27%; capex of about $30 million; and then free cash flow of approximately $60 million.
If you adjust for the expected increase in SG&A, the implied incremental adjusted EBITDA margin is in the mid-20% range.
From a cadence perspective for Q2, on a consolidated basis, we expect net sales to be up approximately 25% year over year.
Looking ahead, on a consolidated basis, we currently expect net sales growth of approximately 12% year over year in Q3.
To summarize, on a consolidated basis for the full year, we currently expect to generate net sales growth of approximately 12% year over year to the midpoint of guidance, while maintaining adjusted EBITDA margin in the low 12% range.
As a reminder, for the most part, we have contractual pass-throughs for the major raw materials we use in North America, but there is often a lag depending on the contract, anywhere from 30 to 90 days.
Company wide, we have approximately 400 open positions, which equates to roughly 10% of our global workforce.
Our North American fenestration segment generated revenue of $128.1 million in Q1, which was $17.7 million or approximately 16% higher than prior-year Q1.
Adjusted EBITDA of $16.4 million in this segment was $7.7 million or approximately 88% higher than prior-year Q1.
Our European fenestration segment generated revenue of $49.1 million in the first quarter, which is $12.3 million or approximately 34% higher than prior year.
Excluding foreign exchange impact, this would equate to an increase of approximately 28%.
Adjusted EBITDA of $10.7 million, resulted in margin expansion of approximately 660 basis points year over year.
Our North American cabinet components segment reported net sales of $54 million in Q1, which was $4 million or approximately 8% better than prior year.
Adjusted EBITDA was $3.3 million in this segment which represents margin expansion of approximately 330 basis points compared to prior year.
Unallocated corporate and other costs were $6 million for the quarter, which is $5.4 million higher than prior year.
As such, on a consolidated basis, we are confident in our ability to deliver low double-digit revenue growth this year while maintaining adjusted EBITDA margins in the low 12% range, despite the increasing inflationary pressures.

We reported revenue of $230.1 million during the first quarter of 2021, which represents an increase of 17.1%, compared to $196.6 million during the first quarter of 2020.
We reported net income of $7.9 million or $0.24 per diluted share for the three months ended January 31, 2021, compared to $10,000 or $0.00 per diluted share during the three months ended January 31, 2020.
On an adjusted basis, net income increased to $9 million or $0.27 per diluted share during the first quarter of 2021, compared to $1.2 million or $0.04 per diluted share during the first quarter of 2020.
Our balance sheet is strong, our liquidity position is solid, and our leverage ratio of net debt to last 12 months adjusted EBITDA is unchanged at 0.6 times as of January 31, 2021.
Based on our strong first-quarter results and ongoing conversations with our customers, we are raising our expectations for the year and now expect approximately 12% sales growth in our North American fenestration segment, approximately 5% sales growth in our North American cabinet components segment and approximately 22% sales growth in our European fenestration segment.
We're now comfortable providing the following full-year 2021 guidance: Net sales of $945 million to $965 million; adjusted EBITDA of $112 million to $122 million; depreciation of approximately $33 million; amortization of approximately $14 million; SG&A of approximately $105 million.
Looking ahead, on a consolidated basis, we currently expect net sales growth of approximately 12% year over year in Q3.
To summarize, on a consolidated basis for the full year, we currently expect to generate net sales growth of approximately 12% year over year to the midpoint of guidance, while maintaining adjusted EBITDA margin in the low 12% range.
As such, on a consolidated basis, we are confident in our ability to deliver low double-digit revenue growth this year while maintaining adjusted EBITDA margins in the low 12% range, despite the increasing inflationary pressures.


Given our strong start to the year, we're pleased to announce an increase in our guidance for 2021 core FFO by approximately 6% from a range of $2.55 to $2.62 per share to a range of $2.70 to $2.75 per share.
Our portfolio of 3,161 freestanding single-tenant retail properties continued to perform exceedingly well.
Occupancy was 98.3% at the end of the quarter, which remains above our long-term average of 98% and while our occupancy rate ticked down 20 basis points from December 31, we're seeing impressive activity in our leasing department including interest by a number of strong national tenants in some of our vacancies.
We also announced collection of 97% of rents due for the first quarter as well as collection of 98% of rents due for the month of April.
Notably, we only forgave 0.1% of our first quarter rents.
Chuck E. Cheese's affirmed all 53 of our leases, in exchange for a 25% temporary base rent reduction that will expire at the end of this year and Ruby Tuesday's affirmed 26 of our 34 leases, accounting for over 80% of our annual rent from Ruby Tuesday, again in exchange for a comparable temporary base rent reduction.
Although we continue to be prudent in our underwriting, we acquired 29 new properties in the quarter for just under $106 million, at an initial cash cap rate of 6.4% and with an average lease duration of 17.5 years.
We also reported that during the first quarter, we sold 11 properties, raising $17.6 million of proceeds to be reinvested into new acquisitions and our balance sheet remains rock solid.
During the quarter, we issued $450 million of unsecured 30-year interest-only bonds at a rate of 3.5%.
So we ended the first quarter with $311 million of cash in the bank, a 0 balance on our $900 million line of credit, no material debt maturities until 2024 and an average debt duration of over 13 years.
That's up $0.06 from the preceding fourth quarter $0.63 and down $0.01 from the prior year's $0.70 per share.
Results for the first quarter included two nonrecurring type items totaling $5 million.
First, we collected $2.2 million of receivables from cash basis tenants that relate to prior quarters.
And second, we received $2.8 million of lease termination fee income, which is more than typical.
For context, full year 2020 was $2 million of lease termination fee income.
So these two items, totaling approximately $5 million, added just under $0.03 per share to our results.
Today, we also reported that AFFO per share was $0.76 per share for the first quarter, which is $0.07 per share higher than the preceding fourth quarter $0.69.
We did footnote this amount included $9.4 million of deferred rent repayment and our accrued rental income adjustment in the first quarter AFFO number.
As Jay mentioned, we reported today rent collections of approximately 97% for the first quarter, 98% for April rent collection.
Most notable collections from our cash basis tenants, which represent approximately $50 million or 7% of our annual base rent, improved to approximately 80% for the first quarter.
Previously, we projected these cash basis tenants would pay at their historical payment rate of about 50% of rent.
So improving to 80% added about $4 million of revenues in the first quarter versus our prior guidance.
As Jay mentioned today, we increased our 2021 core FFO per share guidance from the range of $2.55 to $2.62 per share to a range of $2.70 to $2.75 per share.
The driver for the increase in full year guidance is the $5 million of first quarter nonrecurring items I previously mentioned and the assumed higher rent collection rates more in line with current collection rates.
So while we previously assumed 50% rent collections from the $50 million of cash basis tenant annual base rent, we are now assuming 80% rent collection.
So that incremental 30% amounts to $15 million for the full year and for the remainder of our tenants, we previously assumed 2% potential rent loss, and we now assume 1% rent of potential rent loss, which equates to approximately $6 million of improvement for the year.
So compared to prior guidance, current guidance incorporates approximately a total of $21 million in improved rent collection, plus $5 million of onetime items in Q1 or a total of $26 million, and that all equates to about $0.15 per share.
As Jay noted, we ended the fourth quarter with $311 million of cash on hand.
Nothing outstanding on our $900 million bank line.
We did execute a $450 million 30-year debt offering, with a 3.5% coupon on March 1, and used a large portion of those proceeds to pay off our $350 million of 3.3% notes due in 2023.
Our weighted average debt maturity is now 13.3 years, with a 3.7% weighted average fixed income interest rate.
Our next debt maturity is $350 million, with a 3.9% coupon in mid-2024.
Net debt to gross book assets was 34.7% at quarter end.
Net debt-to-EBITDA was 5.0 times at March 31.
Interest coverage was 4.6 times and fixed charge coverage 4.1 times for the first quarter of 2021.
Only five of our 3,161 properties are encumbered by mortgages totaling about $11 million.

Given our strong start to the year, we're pleased to announce an increase in our guidance for 2021 core FFO by approximately 6% from a range of $2.55 to $2.62 per share to a range of $2.70 to $2.75 per share.
Today, we also reported that AFFO per share was $0.76 per share for the first quarter, which is $0.07 per share higher than the preceding fourth quarter $0.69.
As Jay mentioned today, we increased our 2021 core FFO per share guidance from the range of $2.55 to $2.62 per share to a range of $2.70 to $2.75 per share.


Earnings per share jumped 64% to a record $3.71 per share on a 66% increase in net income.
Sales grew 36% or nearly $500 million to a record $1.85 billion in sales for the quarter.
Gross profits increased 50% with gross margins expanding 220 basis points.
Operating income increased $88 million or 68% to $217 million.
And operating margins, this is a big one, operating margins expanded 220 basis points to a record 11.7%.
Looking ahead, we are engaged in a very fragmented $50 billion North American market.
Again, this is a $50 billion North American market.
First, growth rates among active users of our technologies continues to outpace the growth rates of nonusers.

Earnings per share jumped 64% to a record $3.71 per share on a 66% increase in net income.
Sales grew 36% or nearly $500 million to a record $1.85 billion in sales for the quarter.
First, growth rates among active users of our technologies continues to outpace the growth rates of nonusers.


The progress in our growth reinforces our belief that we can achieve our stated goals of increasing Ormat's combined geothermal energy storage and solar generating portfolio to more than 1.5-gigawatt by 2023.
While we continue to view 2021 is a buildup year in which we lay additional groundwork to accelerate our growth.
The increased backlog and sales pipeline, along with the -- I guess the only tailwinds and significant portfolio growth coming from our Electricity and Energy Storage segment support our target of an annual run rate of more than $500 million in adjusted EBITDA toward the end of 2022.
Total revenue for the second quarter were $146.4 million, down 16% from the prior year.
Second quarter 2021 consolidated gross profit was $52 million, resulting in a gross margin of 35.4%, 200 basis point lower than in the second quarter of 2020, mainly driven by the reduction in the Electricity segment.
These issues reduced our Electricity gross profit by approximately $8 million.
For the six months, gross margin was 40.1%, similar to the same period last year.
We delivered net income attributed to the company stockholders of $13 million or $0.23 in the quarter compared to $23 million or $0.45 per share for the same quarter last year.
Our effective tax rate for the second quarter of 2021 was 22.6%, which is lower than the 33% effective tax rate from the second quarter of 2020, mainly due to the movement in the valuation allowances for each quarter.
We now expect the annual effective tax rate to stand by approximately 33% for the full-year 2021, assuming no material one-time impacts.
Adjusted EBITDA decreased 13.6% to $84.5 million in the second quarter, impacted mainly by gross profit reduction and higher G&A expenses, driven by increased legal costs.
Moving to Slide 6; breaking the revenue down, Electricity segment revenues increased 4% to $134 million, supported by contribution from new added capacity at our Steamboat and McGinness Hill complexes, as well as Puna resumed operation.
In the Product segment, revenue declined 83% to $7.4 million, representing 5% of total revenue in the second quarter.
Energy storage segment revenues increased nearly 124% year-over-year to $5.6 million in the second quarter, representing 4% of our total revenue for the quarter.
Gross margin for the Electricity segment for the quarter decreased year-over-year to 37.4%.
In addition, in the second quarter last year, we did record a business interruption insurance recovery of $2.7 million related to Puna complex compared to zero this year.
In the Product segment, gross margin was 20.1% in the second quarter compared to 20.6% in the same time last year.
Adjusted EBITDA decreased 40% to $84.5 million in the second quarter, impacted mainly by gross profit reduction and higher G&A expenses, driven by increased legal costs.
The Electricity segment generated 94% of the total Adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter and the Product segment generated 4%.
The Storage segment reported adjusted EBITDA of $2 million, which represent 2% of the total adjusted EBITDA.
On Slide 9; our net debt as of June 30, 2021, was $1.40 billion.
Cash and cash equivalent and restricted cash and cash equivalent as of June 30 was approximately $330 million compared to $537 million as of year-end.
In addition, we had $46 million of marketable securities.
Our long-term debt as of June 30, 2021, was $1.4 billion, net of deferred financing costs and its payment schedule is presented on Slide 30, in the appendix.
The average cost of debt was 4.9%.
During July, we closed two new corporate loan raising approximately $175 million out of which $50 million are green bonds provided HSBC bank.
On August 4, 2021, the company Board of Directors declared approved and authorized payment of quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share pursuant to the company's dividend policy.
The dividend will be paid on September 1, 2021, to shareholders of record as of the close of business day on August 18, 2021.
In addition, we expect to pay dividend of $0.12 per share in the next quarter.
Power generation in our power plants increased by approximately 2.4% compared to last year.
We recently completed the expansion of our McGinness Hill facility and are now providing electricity for approximately 6,000 homes, while offsetting approximately 63,000 tons of CO2 emissions, delivering the highest level of efficiency and safety in the geothermal industry.
This reduction in capacity reduced our quarterly gross margin by approximately $2.7 million.
We also experienced a mechanical failure at our Steamboat Complex, resulting in revenue loss and interest expenses that reduced gross margin by approximately $2 million.
This acquisition added a total net generating capacity of approximately 67.5-megawatts to our portfolio.
With this acquisition, we now own 10 operating plants in Nevada, generating a total of 443-megawatt.
As of August 4, 2021, our product segment backlog increased 59% by $22 million to reach $59 million compared to $37 million in early May this year.
We signed a few contracts during the quarter, including a new contract with Star Energy Geothermal to supply products to a new 14- megawatt Salak geothermal power plant in Indonesia and then other contract to supply equipment to the project in Japan.
One example is the recent ruling by CTC [Phonetic] require electrical load service entities LLCs to procure 11.5-gigawatt of new clean electricity by 2026.
One gigawatt of this procurement must deliver thermal power with an 80% capacity factor produce zero onsite emission and be weather- independent.
No form of renewable energy generation is more poised to fill this slate than geothermal, with a 95% capacity factor and thermal flexible generation.
California efforts to achieve its goal of 100% carbon free electricity by 2045, through massive deployment of renewable energy and energy storage resources enable us to sign new contracts for geothermal and we did this quarter with CPA for 14-megawatt Heber South geothermal power plant in the Imperial Valley, California.
We also issued our first ever request for the -- for the 26-megawatt Heber 2 and actively look for opportunities for our storage platform.
Moving to Slide 20 and 21.
This build up support of robust growth plans, which is expected to increase our total portfolio by almost 50% by the end of 2023.
Achieving this growth target is expected to help us reach an annual run rate of more than $500 million in adjusted EBITDA toward the end of 2022 that we expect to continue to grow as we move forward with our plans in 2023 and onwards.
Slide 22 displays 13 projects underway that comprise the majority of our 2023 growth goals.
Moving to Slide 23 and 24, the second layer of our growth has come from the energy storage segment.
As you can see on Slide 24, our energy storage pipeline extends two-gigawatt and plus [Phonetic] include 36 name, potential projects, mainly in Texas, New Jersey, and California.
To fund this growth, we have over $750 million of cash and available lines of credit.
Our total expected capital spend for the remainder of 2021 includes approximately $280 million for capital expenditures as detailed on Slide 31 in the appendix.
We expect total revenues between $650 million and $685 million with Electricity segment's revenues between %585 million and $595 million.
We expect Product segment revenues between $400 million and $60 million.
Guidance for Energy storage revenue are expected to be between $25 million to $30 million.
We expect adjusted EBITDA to be between $400 million and $410 million.
We expect annual adjusted EBITDA attributable to minority interest to be approximately $31 million.
As noted in previous quarter, adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2021 includes insurance proceeds of approximately $10 million.

While we continue to view 2021 is a buildup year in which we lay additional groundwork to accelerate our growth.
We delivered net income attributed to the company stockholders of $13 million or $0.23 in the quarter compared to $23 million or $0.45 per share for the same quarter last year.
We expect total revenues between $650 million and $685 million with Electricity segment's revenues between %585 million and $595 million.


National Fuel had an excellent second quarter with operating results of $1.34 per share, up 38% year-over-year.
In addition, last summer's Tioga County acquisition continues to exceed our expectations with gathering throughput and Appalachian production up over 45%.
Increased [Technical Issues] to $4.05 per share, at the midpoint an increase of 35% in the prior year.
Once complete, this project will generate about $50 million of annual revenue for us.
This timing will allow Seneca to capture the premium winter pricing typically seen in the Transco Zone 6 market.
Also in March, our Utility announced greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for its delivery system of 75% by 2030 and 90% by 2050, both from 1990 levels.
The targets rely on our commitment to the continued modernization of our utility infrastructure which today has led to a reduction in EPA Subpart W emissions of well over 60%.
Seneca produced a Company record 85.2 Bcfe, driven by increased Tioga County volumes from the acquisition completed last summer as well as growth in solid production results from our ongoing Appalachian development program.
During the quarter we brought online [13] new wells in Pennsylvania, all of which were in our Western Development Area.
During the quarter we also drilled 14 new wells, 10 in the WDA, four in the EDA.
We also continue to see the benefits of our increased scale with cash operating expenses dropping to $1.09 per Mcfe, a 14% decrease from the prior year.
Of note, we have realized a significant decrease in per unit G&A expense, dropping roughly 25% over the past year, driven by our acquisition and ongoing development in Appalachia.
In addition, we continue to make strides in improving our operational efficiencies, particularly in Tioga County, where our operations team has cut Utica drilling time by 25% compared to our last Tract 007 Pad.
On the marketing front, although pricing has been relatively volatile, Seneca is very well hedged for the balance of the fiscal year with 88% of our East Division gas production locked in physically and financially.
So all in, about 95% of our forecasted gas production is already sold.
That leaves a relatively small amount of production, less than 10 Bcf, exposed to in-basin spot pricing.
This has significantly increased Seneca's flexibility to move more gas to premium Dominion and Empire markets versus the weaker TGP 300 Zone 4 market.
As we look a bit further out, we have maintained our disciplined approach to hedging and already have 188 Bcf of fixed price firm sales, NYMEX swaps and costless collars in place for fiscal 2022.
We expect our annual capital levels in California will be in the $10 million to $20 million range over the next few years absent further increases in the longer-term oil strip.
And we are constructing another facility in South Midway Sunset which will provide about 30% of our field electricity use.
National Fuel's second quarter GAAP earnings were $1.23 per share.
When you back out items impacting comparability, principally related to the premium paid for the early redemption of our $500 million December '21 maturity, our operating results were $1.34 per share, a significant increase over last year.
In February, we issued $500 million of 2.95% 10-year notes, the proceeds from which were used to fund the early redemption of our $500 million, 4.9% coupon December '21 maturity.
Combining this with our $1 billion in short-term committed credit facilities and our expectation on meaningful future cash flow generation, we're in a great spot from a liquidity position.
While this debt issuance will translate into $2.5 million of interest savings per quarter going forward, the fiscal 2021 impact is somewhat muted by the overlapping period during the second quarter where both the redeemed notes and the new issue were on our balance sheet.
As it relates to the rest of the year, based on our strong second quarter results, we've increased our earnings guidance to a range of $3.85 to $4.05 per share, up $0.15 at the midpoint.
At our regulated companies, consistent with our earlier guidance, we anticipate O&M expense to be up approximately 4% in both our Utility and Pipeline and Storage segments.
For our non-regulated businesses, we now expect Seneca's full year LOE to range between $0.82 and $0.84 per Mcfe, a $0.01 lower at the midpoint of our revised guidance range.
On the gathering side of our business costs were in line with prior expectations and we still anticipate O&M to be in line with our earlier $0.09 per Mcf guidance.
As we look to the back half of the year and beyond, we would expect that DD&A trends closer to the low $0.60 per Mcfe area.
With respect to consolidated capital spending, All of our segment ranges remain the same and we are still projecting between $720 million and $830 million for the fiscal year.

National Fuel's second quarter GAAP earnings were $1.23 per share.
When you back out items impacting comparability, principally related to the premium paid for the early redemption of our $500 million December '21 maturity, our operating results were $1.34 per share, a significant increase over last year.
As it relates to the rest of the year, based on our strong second quarter results, we've increased our earnings guidance to a range of $3.85 to $4.05 per share, up $0.15 at the midpoint.


Obviously, we're very excited after talking about it for 18 months to announce that we are both accelerating our first variable dividend payment into the third quarter this year as well as increasing the payment to reflect 75% of second quarter free cash flow.
When combined with the base dividend, total dividend payments in the third quarter will be greater than $2 per share, or a total of approximately $490 million return to shareholders during the third quarter alone.
Pioneer's strong execution continued during the second quarter, with production near the top end of guidance, delivering over $600 million of free cash flow, driving estimated 2021 free cash flow up to about $3.2 billion.
Lastly, Pioneer is the largest producer in the Permian, with the largest inventory of Tier one locations, over 15,000, and the lowest breakeven price in the Lower 48.
Apollo, who was the largest shareholder from DoublePoint, our largest shareholder from DoublePoint has sold out from 13 million shares to about two million shares and now less than 1% of the outstanding of the company.
Horizontal lease operating expense dropped by nearly $0.25 per BOE when compared to the first quarter.
In total, Pioneer generated approximately $1 billion in free cash flow in the first half of '21.
The first variable dividend will be paid during the third quarter, and accelerated from 22%, will be based on second quarter free cash flow.
Additionally, we are increasing the third quarter variable dividend payment to 75%, post base dividend free cash flow from the previous 50%.
The increase up to 75% in our variable dividend program is approximately 18 months sooner than previously planned.
These changes result in over $1 billion of incremental cash to be returned to shareholders in 2021, with total dividends to exceed $6 per share.
On slide six, we remain committed to our core investment thesis, predicated on low leverage, strong corporate returns to average over the next five years in the mid-teens, low investment rate, around 50% over the next five years and generating significant free cash flow.
This durable combination creates significant value for our shareholders delivering a mid-teens total return through our stable and growing base dividend, compelling variable dividend program and high-return oil growth up to 5%.
Obviously, when you look at 2022, the turn on return is much higher because the oil strip over the next five years is about $10 in backwardation.
When including the base dividend, approximately 80% of the company's free cash flow is expected to be returned to shareholders through eight separate dividend checks per year, inclusive of both the base and the variable dividend.
As you can see on slide seven, the product of Pioneer's high-quality assets and top-tier capital efficiency drive significant free cash flow generation amounting to greater than $23 billion through 2026.
It drops about $10 in backwardation over the next five years.
Let's get into free cash flow, which is based on current strip pricing, represents greater than 50% of our enterprise value and more than 65% of our market cap.
Considering the greater than $23 billion of cumulative free cash flow, this program generates over $18 billion of total dividends through 2026, with the remaining free cash flow allocated toward strengthening our balance sheet, driving net debt to EBITDA to less than 0.5.
Going to slide eight, positioning a leading dividend yield across all sectors, the combination of Pioneer's expected free cash flow and return on capital framework creates a compelling investment opportunity with a total dividend yield that will exceed all S&P 500 sectors as well as companies and the average yield of the major oil companies and all other energy companies in the S&P 500.
Annualized expected dividends paid in the second half of 2021 leads to a dividend yield of approximately 8%, which increases '22 to '26 time period to an average greater than 9% due significant free cash flow.
Again, when you look at you just focus on '22, the dividend yield is about 12%.
Again, a reminder, the strip with these numbers is about $10 in backwardation.
This highly competitive yield is underpinned by the greater than $18 billion of cumulative cash returned to shareholders outlined on the previous slide and speaks to the power and underlying quality of Pioneer's assets.
You can see on the slide here, there's no change to our full year oil production guidance range of $351,000 to $366,000 barrels of oil per day and total production of 605,000 to 631,000 BOEs per day.
Similarly, on capital, it's unchanged at $2.95 billion to $3.25 billion, but we are seeing some inflationary pressure, although most of it is being offset by our efficiency improvements by the great work power of drilling and completions and facilities teams.
You can see with the increase in commodity prices, our forecasted Operating cash flow has increased to $6.45 billion, and free cash flows increased to $3.2 billion that Scott talked about.
Both of those are up $500 million from what we forecasted in our May call related to Q1 earnings.
Our plan remains unchanged and is set to average between 22 and 24 drilling rigs for the full year.
We are currently running 24 rigs and eight frac fleets in the Midland Basin.
Just for reference, the Delaware production was 70% oil during Q2.
You can see here from the slide that we have realized $275 million synergy target related to G&A in interest and on both the Parsley and DoublePoint transactions.
On the operational synergies, we've made great progress with over 50% of the target synergies being identified and being incorporated into future plans.
And lastly, just as examples which is significant, the team has identified over 1,000 locations that we can drill additional 15,000-foot laterals across our contiguous acreage position that are being incorporated into our future development plans, providing significant improvement in capital efficiency going forward.
On slide 12, you'll see Pioneer's high-quality asset base, which yields a peer-leading oil percent that drives our high-margin barrels, positioning Pioneer as the only E&P among our peers to realize a corporate breakeven below $30 a barrel WTI.
As you can see, since 2017, these two teams have seen more than 75% improvement in their completed feet per day and more than 65% improvement in their drill feet per day.
Despite our leadership position, Pioneer's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 25% and methane emissions intensity by 40% through 2030, demonstrates our commitment to further increasing our environmental standards.
I think one of the most important points with the recent Rystad report, the Permian Basin has declined over the last 18 months as we've been talking about it from about $1 billion a day to less than 200 million a day in regard to flaring.
So people are focused on reducing flaring to less than 1% for most oil companies.
As you can see, when you look at our top 15 individuals that run the company, we're at 47%.

Similarly, on capital, it's unchanged at $2.95 billion to $3.25 billion, but we are seeing some inflationary pressure, although most of it is being offset by our efficiency improvements by the great work power of drilling and completions and facilities teams.
You can see with the increase in commodity prices, our forecasted Operating cash flow has increased to $6.45 billion, and free cash flows increased to $3.2 billion that Scott talked about.
Our plan remains unchanged and is set to average between 22 and 24 drilling rigs for the full year.


On a combined basis, these items had a net favorable impact on after-tax earnings of approximately $30 million during the second quarter of 2021.
Our cash generated from operating activities was $119 million during the second quarter of 2021 as compared to $1.45 billion during the same period in 2020.
The decline in cash provided by operating activities was driven by the previously announced early repayment of $695 million of Medicare accelerated payments, which were received by us during 2020 and repaid to the government during the first quarter of 2021.
We spent $482 million on capital expenditures during the first six months of 2021.
At June 30, 2021, our ratio of debt to total capitalization declined to 35.7% as compared to 38.3% at June 30, 2020.
As previously announced, we resumed our share repurchase program in the second quarter of 2021 after suspending it in April 2020 as the COVID volume surged for the first time.
During the second quarter of 2021, we repurchased approximately 2.21 million shares at an aggregate cost of $350 million.
And yesterday, our Board of Directors authorized a $1.0 billion increase to our stock repurchase program, leaving $1.2 billion remaining authorization.
As a consequence, we also raised our full year earnings guidance, including an approximately 6% to 8% increase in our full year forecasted adjusted EBITDA.


AAM sales for the second quarter 2021, were $1.28 billion, up approximately 149% compared to $515 million in the second quarter of 2020.
North American industry production was up approximately 130% according to third party estimates.
Light truck production was up 150% year-over-year.
AAM's adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter 2021 was $222.6 million or 17.3% of sales.
This compares to a loss of $52.1 million last year.
AAM's adjusted earnings per share in the second quarter of 2021 was $0.29 per share compared to a loss of $1.79 in the second quarter of 2020.
We generated adjusted free cash flow of over $136 million compared to an outflow of approximately $162 million in the second quarter of 2020.
Additionally, we prepaid over $140 million of term loans in the second quarter.
And since the fourth quarter of 2020, to the second quarter 2021, we have paid down approximately $360 million of long-term debt.
We achieved 2.5 times net leverage ratio in the second quarter.
Our revenue will be $5.3 billion to $5.5 billion.
Adjusted EBITDA $875 million to $925 million.
And adjusted free cash flow of $350 million to $425 million.
In the second quarter of 2021 AAM sales were $1.28 billion compared to $515 million in the second quarter of 2020.
First, we add back the impact of COVID-19 from second quarter of 2020 of approximately $947 million.
Then, we account for the unfavorable impact of the semiconductor shortage which we estimate to be approximately $162 million in the second quarter of 2021.
Other volume mix and pricing was negative by $99 million.
Metals and FX accounted for an increase in sales of $82 million.
Gross profit was $190 million or 14.8% of sales in the second quarter of 2021, compared to a loss of $99 million in the second quarter of 2020.
Adjusted EBITDA was $222.6 million in the second quarter of 2021 or 17.3% of sales.
This compares to a loss of $52.1 million in the second quarter of 2020.
This drove a $16 million benefit from inventory absorption timing, which should reverse out in the second half of the year as we anticipate reducing inventories during that timeframe.
SG&A expense including R&D in the first quarter of 2021 was $86 million or 6.7% of sales.
This compares to 14.3% of sales in the second quarter of 2020 as revenues rapidly declined last year due to COVID-19 related shutdowns.
AAM's R&D spending in the second quarter of 2021 was $30 million compared to $32 million in the second quarter of 2020.
Net interest expense was $47.3 million in the second quarter of 2021 compared to $51.6 million in the second quarter of 2020.
In the second quarter of 2021, we recorded income tax expense of $2.4 million compared to a benefit of $43.9 million in the second quarter of 2020.
As we continue into 2021, we expect our effective tax rate to be approximately 15% to 20%.
We would expect cash taxes to be in the $30 million to $40 million range.
Taking all these sales and cost drivers into account, our GAAP net income was $16 million or $0.13 per share in the second quarter of 2021, compared to a loss of $213.2 million or a loss of $1.88 per share in the second quarter of 2020.
Net cash provided by operating activities for the second quarter of 2021 was $167.1 million compared to an outflow of $142.5 million last year.
Capital expenditures, net of the proceeds from the sale of property plant equipment for the second quarter of 2021 was $41 million.
Cash payments for restructuring acquisition-related activity for the second quarter of 2021 were $16 million.
The net cash inflow related to the recovery from the Malvern fire we experienced in September of 2020 was $5 million in the quarter.
In total, we would expect $50 million to $65 million in restructuring and acquisition costs in 2021.
Reflecting the impact of this activity, AAM generated adjusted free cash flow of $136.1 million in the second quarter of 2021.
From a debt leverage perspective, we ended the quarter with net debt of $2.6 billion and LTM adjusted EBITDA of $1 billion, calculating a net leverage ratio of 2.5 times at June 30.
Speaking of AAM's strong free cash flow generation, we prepaid over $140 million on our term-loans in the quarter.
Subsequent to the end of the second quarter, we redeemed an additional $100 million on our 6.25% notes due in 2025.
As of today, we have paid down approximately $350 million in our term loans and notes in 2021 alone.

AAM sales for the second quarter 2021, were $1.28 billion, up approximately 149% compared to $515 million in the second quarter of 2020.
AAM's adjusted earnings per share in the second quarter of 2021 was $0.29 per share compared to a loss of $1.79 in the second quarter of 2020.
Our revenue will be $5.3 billion to $5.5 billion.
Taking all these sales and cost drivers into account, our GAAP net income was $16 million or $0.13 per share in the second quarter of 2021, compared to a loss of $213.2 million or a loss of $1.88 per share in the second quarter of 2020.


We expect to realize the full savings by 2023.
We continue to make progress toward our goal of 25% smart and connected product sales by 2023.
In 2020, we reduced our water usage by 33% and our greenhouse gas emissions by 13%.
This past year, sales of our condensing boilers and water heaters reduced more than 110,000 metric tons of CO2 for our customers, more than four times what Watts generated as a company.
To date, we have positively impacted over 30,000 people in eight different countries, providing safe drinking water and education on the importance of proper hand sanitization.
Sales of $467 million increased 38% on a reported basis and 32% organically, driven primarily by the global economic recovery.
Adjusted operating profit increased 85% and adjusted operating margins expanded 380 basis points to 14.9%.
Adjusted earnings per share increased 100% as compared to last year from the better operating result as well as favorable below the line items and a foreign exchange benefit.
Our adjusted effective tax rate was 27.1% compared to 26.4% in the prior year period.
Total pre-tax exit costs approximate $26 million, which includes approximately $2 million in non-cash charges.
For GAAP purposes, we booked approximately $18 million of those costs in the second quarter and expect approximately $2 million in additional restructuring charges in the second half of 2021.
Full year pre-tax run rate savings should approximate $5 million, which should be fully realized in 2023.
We expect about $0.5 million in savings this year, largely in the fourth quarter.
Free cash flow was $65 million through June 30, up 160% from the same period last year.
Our goal remains to achieve free cash flow conversion at 100% or more of net income for the year.
Gross leverage was 0.7 times and net leverage was negative 0.2 times.
Our net debt to capitalization ratio at quarter end was also negative at 4.5%.
During the quarter, we repurchased approximately 31,000 shares of our common stock and at investment of $4 million, primarily to offset dilution.
The region experienced organic sales growth of between 28% and 51% during the second quarter as compared to last year, amid a strong economic recovery.
Sales also benefited from favorable foreign exchange in Europe and APMEA by 14% and 10%, respectively.
Acquisitions benefited APMEA sales by 14%.
Americas adjusted operating profit increased 54% and adjusted operating margin increased 270 basis points to 17.7%, driven by volume, price, cost actions and productivity, which is partially offset by incremental investments, inflation and the return of expenses related to business normalization.
Europe's adjusted operating margin increased 700 basis points to 17.1%.
APMEA's adjusted operating margin increased 460 basis points to 17.9%, driven by trade volume, a 61% increase in affiliate volume, productivity and cost actions, which more than offset inflation.
We are estimating consolidated organic sales growth for the third quarter to be eight percent to 12% over the third quarter of 2020.
Acquired sales should approximate $2 million.
We anticipate that our adjusted operating margin could range from 13.7% to 14.5% in the third quarter, driven by volume and price, partially offset by investments of $6 million and incremental cost of $7 million related to the return of discretionary spend.
Corporate costs should approximate $13 million in the third quarter.
Interest expense should be in line with Q2 at about $1.5 million.
The adjusted effective tax rate should approximate 27%.
From an organic perspective, we expect Americas sales growth to be in the range of nine percent to 13% for 2021.
Sales should increase by about $5 million for the full year from acquisitions.
For Europe, we're forecasting organic sales to increase between 10% and 14%.
In APMEA, we now expect organic sales to grow from 23% to 27% for the year.
Sales also increased by approximately $6 million from the AVG acquisition in the first half of 2021.
Consolidated organic sales growth for the full year is expected to range from 10% to 14%.
This is approximately 7.5% higher at the midpoint from our previous outlook and is primarily driven by better global end market expectations and our third price increase in the Americas.
We anticipate adjusted operating margin will be up by 100 to 150 basis points year-over-year, driven by the incremental volume drop-through, price, restructuring savings of approximately $12 million, partially offset by $32 million of incremental investments and expenses related to business normalization and general inflation.
And now regarding other key inputs, we expect corporate costs will approximate $48 million for the year.
Interest expense should be roughly $7 million for the year.
Our estimated adjusted effective tax rate for 2021 should approximate 27.5%.
Capital spending is expected to be in the $35 million range.
Depreciation and amortization should approximate $46 million for the year.
We expect to continue to drive free cash flow conversion equal to a greater than 100% of net income.
We are now assuming a 1.21 average Euro U.S. dollar FX rate for the full year versus the average rate of EUR1.14 in 2020.
Please recall that for every $0.01 movement up or down in the euro-dollar exchange rate, our European annual sales are impacted by approximately $4 million and our annual earnings per share is impacted by $0.01.
We expect our share count to approximate 34 million for the year.

We expect to realize the full savings by 2023.
Sales of $467 million increased 38% on a reported basis and 32% organically, driven primarily by the global economic recovery.


The company originated five first mortgage loans totaling $825 million, bringing year-to-date total originations to $1.4 billion.
More importantly, the commercial real estate transaction market remains robust, with Real Capital Analytics reporting 167% increase in second quarter volume versus last year.
Year-to-date, approximately 70% of our transactions completed were loans secured by properties throughout Europe.
three loans totaling approximately $260 million repaid during the quarter, including one hospitality loan and two subordinate residential for-sale loans, one of which was a large New York City project, and the other was for a condominium development in Los Angeles.
Subsequent to the quarter, an additional $287 million of loans repaid as repayment activity in general is becoming more consistent with pre-pandemic expectations.
ARI completed an eight year $500 million debut offering of senior secured notes priced at 4.5/8%.
Consistent with our prior commentary on corporate finance strategy, we felt it was prudent to continue to term out some of our financing, access additional non asset-specific leverage and increase our pool of unencumbered assets, which were north of $2 billion at quarter-end.
Demolition is moving forward at the property on Fulton Street in Brooklyn, which will be developed into an approximately 50 story, 600 unit multifamily tower.
Given the pace of development and the strength of the Brooklyn submarket, we reduced the original reserve against this asset by $20 million.
I also wanted to provide an update on 111 West 57th Street.
For the second quarter, we reported strong financial results, with distributable earnings prior to realized loss and impairments of $59 million or $0.41 per share.
GAAP net income available to common stockholders was $64 million or $0.42 per share.
With respect to the specific CECL reserve, we reversed $20 million against our Fulton Street loan, as we continue to make progress in readying the site for a multifamily tower development, as well as improvements in the Brooklyn multifamily market.
We also foreclosed on a hotel asset in Washington, D.C. and recorded an additional $10 million loss, bringing our total loss against that asset to $20 million.
GAAP book value per share prior to depreciation and General CECL Reserve increased to $15.48 as compared to $15.35 at the end of the first quarter.
The loan portfolio at quarter end was $7.5 billion, a 16% increase since the end of 2020.
The portfolio had a weighted average unlevered yield of 5.5% and the remaining fully extended term of just under three years.
Approximately 89% of our floating rates U.S. loans have LIBOR floors that are in the money today, with a weighted average floor of 1.32%.
In addition to the five loans originated this quarter, we made $246 million of add-on funding for previously closed loans.
We ended the quarter with $227 million of total liquidity.
Our debt-to-equity ratio at quarter end increased to 2.3 times as our portfolio migrated toward first mortgages.
And lastly, as noted in our -- in the eight-K we filed last week, subsequent to quarter end, we exchanged our $169 million, 8% Series B preferred stock, a 7.1/4% Series B1 preferred stock in the same amount.
This reduces our cost by 75 basis points per annum, and the preferred stock continues to be held by a single institutional investor.


We were able to accomplish these goals and achieve superior results in the third quarter while approximately 60% of our workforce continue to work remotely.
For the third quarter, we generated record adjusted pre-tax title earnings of $528 million compared with $407 million in the year ago quarter and a 21.2% adjusted pre-tax title margin compared with an 18.6% in the third quarter of 2019, and our best since the third quarter of 2003.
Most recently, we announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.36 per share, which reflects a fourth quarter dividend increase of 9%.
In conjunction with this announcement, we announced our plans for targeting $500 million in share repurchases based on market conditions over the course of the next 12 months.
As Randy mentioned, the third quarter was a record quarter for adjusted pre-tax title earnings and produced our best quarterly adjusted pre-tax title margin since the third quarter of 2003, as we benefited from the delayed spring selling season and sustained momentum in refinance.
For the third quarter, we generated adjusted pre-tax title earnings of $528 million, a 30% increase over the third quarter of 2019.
Our adjusted pre-tax title margin was 21.2%, a 260 basis point increase over the prior year quarter.
We had a 40% increase in direct orders closed, driven by an 87% increase in daily refinance orders closed and 8% increase in daily purchase orders closed offset by a 16% decrease in total commercial orders closed.
Total commercial revenue was $216 million compared with the year ago quarter of $301 million due to the 16% decrease in closed orders and a 14% decline in total commercial fee per file.
For the third quarter, total orders opened averaged 13,200 per day, with July at 13,300; August at 13,500; and September at 13,000.
For October, total orders opened were over 11,800 per day as we continue to see a strong recovery in purchase activity and continued strength in the refinance market.
Daily purchase orders opened were up 12% in the quarter versus the prior year.
For October, daily purchase orders opened were up 15% versus the prior year.
Refinance orders opened increased by 83% on a daily basis versus the third quarter of 2019.
For October, daily refinance orders opened were up 71% versus the prior year.
Lastly, total commercial orders opened increased by 4% over the third quarter of 2019.
We continue to see steady improvement in commercial open orders per day during the quarter, with the third quarter up 32% sequentially from the second quarter.
For October, total commercial orders opened per day were up 1% over October 2019.
We passed 800,000 digital opening packages delivered to buyers and sellers of residential purchase and refinance transactions and are encouraged that 60% of all packages were completed.
Total retail sales of $1.1 billion in the third quarter were up 34% from the prior year, and core fixed index annuity or FIA sales were $815 million, up 38% from prior year.
In the third quarter, we generated $189 million in new annuity sales in this channel, and we believe we're just now scratching the surface of opportunities in the bank and broker dealer channels.
With solid sales results, we grew average assets under management, or AAUM, to $27 billion, driven by approximately $400 million of net new business flows in the period.
Regarding spread results, total product net investment spread was 261 basis points in the third quarter, and FIA net investment spread was 347 basis points.
The solid spread result translated to adjusted net earnings of $74 million for the quarter.
As of September 30, the portfolio's net unrealized gain position grew to $1.2 billion, increasing by approximately $600 million in the quarter.
For the nine-month period ended September 30, we have taken credit-related impairments, which we view as true economic losses of only $17 million or six basis points of the total portfolio.
Even with the anticipated cumulative effect of credit migrations and potential rating downgrades, we expect to end the year with a strong RBC ratio at or above our 400% target.
We generated $3 billion in total revenue in the third quarter.
With the Title segment producing approximately $2.5 billion, F&G producing $442 million and the Corporate segment generating $50 million.
Third quarter net earnings were $378 million, which include net recognized gains of $73 million versus net recognized gains of $4 million in the third quarter of 2019, primarily due to mark-to-market accounting treatment of equity and preferred stock securities, whether these securities were disposed of in the quarter or continue to be held in our investment portfolio.
Excluding net recognized gains, our total revenue was $2.9 billion as compared with $2.2 billion in the third quarter of 2019.
Adjusted net earnings from continuing operations were $435 million or $1.48 per diluted share.
The Title segment contributed $391 million, F&G contributed $74 million, and the Corporate and Other segment had an adjusted net loss of $30 million.
Excluding net recognized losses of $3 million, our Title segment generated $2.5 billion in total revenue for the third quarter compared with $2.2 billion in the third quarter of 2019.
Direct premiums increased by 11% versus the third quarter of 2019.
Agency revenue grew by 19%, and escrow title related and other fees increased by 14% versus the prior year.
Personnel costs increased by 7% and other operating expenses decreased by 2%.
All in, the Title business generated a 21.2% adjusted pre-tax title margin, a 260 basis point increase versus the third quarter of 2019.
Interest income in the Title and Corporate segments of $31 million declined $26 million as compared with the prior year quarter due to the reduction of short-term interest rates on our corporate cash balances in our 1031 exchange business.
In September, we closed an issuance of $600 million of 2.45% senior notes due March 15, 2031.
F&F debt outstanding was $2.7 billion on September 30 for a debt-to-total capital ratio of 27.1%.
Our title claims paid of $50 million were $27 million lower than our provision of $77 million for the quarter.
The carried title reserve for claim losses is currently $55 million or 3.7% above the external actuary central estimate.
We continue to provide for title claims at 4.5% of total title premiums.
Finally, our title investment portfolio totaled $5.3 billion at September 30.
Included in the $5.3 billion are fixed maturity and preferred securities of $2.5 billion with an average duration of three years and an average rating of A2.
Equity securities of $600 million, short-term and other investments of $300 million and cash of $1.9 billion.
We ended the quarter with just under $1 billion in cash and short-term liquid investments at the holding company level.

Adjusted net earnings from continuing operations were $435 million or $1.48 per diluted share.
Excluding net recognized losses of $3 million, our Title segment generated $2.5 billion in total revenue for the third quarter compared with $2.2 billion in the third quarter of 2019.
All in, the Title business generated a 21.2% adjusted pre-tax title margin, a 260 basis point increase versus the third quarter of 2019.


One of the ways we serve our communities is by helping fight hunger, this fiscal year, through our foundation, Darden provided $2.5 million to help our partners at Feeding America add refrigerated trucks for 15 food banks to support mobile pantry programs and distribution in communities facing high rates of food insecurity.
It is humbling to lead 170,000 outstanding team members, who nourish and delight everyone we serve.
Earlier this year, we committed to increasing the minimum hourly earnings for our restaurant team members to $12, which includes income earned through gratuities by January 2023.
And with this change, we expect our restaurant team members will earn on average approximately $20 per hour.
Off-premise sales accounted for 28% of total sales at Olive Garden and 15% of total sales at LongHorn Steakhouse.
Digital transactions accounted for 60% of all off-premise sales during this quarter and 11% of Darden's total sales.
Finally, we successfully opened 12 new restaurants during the quarter, including a flagship Yard House in Time Square with minimal staffing challenges.
Regardless, we remain on track to open approximately 35 to 40 new restaurants this fiscal year.
Total sales for the second quarter were $2.3 billion, 37% higher than last year, driven by 34.4% same restaurant sales growth and the addition of 34 net new restaurants.
Average weekly sales grew by more than 7% compared to pre-COVID.
Diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations were $1.48.
Total EBITDA was $335 million, resulting in EBITDA margin of 14.7%.
The significant business model improvements we made over the past year and half combined with strong sales resulted in margin growth of 270 basis points compared to pre-COVID.
We continue to return significant cash to shareholders paying $143 million in dividends and repurchasing $266 million in shares, totaling over $400 million of cash returned to investors in the quarter.
And while we're happy with our performance, cost pressures continue to exceed our expectations on both commodities and labor with total inflations of 6% this quarter.
For the second quarter, total pricing was 2% and we expect back half pricing to approach 4%, resulting in total pricing of just under 3% for the full fiscal year.
For the rest of the fiscal year, we expect commodity and labor inflation to peak in our third quarter and then start to slow down as we enter the fourth quarter and lap commodities inflation of 4.3% in the fourth quarter of last year.
For the second quarter, food and beverage expenses were 220 basis points higher, driven by elevated commodity inflation of 9%, as well as investments in food quality, portion size and pricing significantly below inflation.
Restaurant labor was 90 basis points favorable, driven by sales leverage and efficiencies gained from operational simplifications and was partially offset by elevated wage pressures.
Hourly wage inflation during the quarter was almost 9%.
Restaurant expenses were 130 basis points lower due to sales leverage, which more than offset higher utilities costs.
Marketing spend was $44 million lower, resulting in 230 basis points of favorability.
As a result, restaurant level EBITDA margin for Darden was 18.8%, 230 basis points better than pre-COVID levels.
G&A expense was 40 basis points lower, driven by savings from the corporate restructuring in fiscal 2021, a decrease in mark-to-market expense and sales leverage.
Second quarter sales at Olive Garden increased 5% versus pre-COVID, strong performance, especially as we were wrapping against nine weeks of never-ending possible.
This sales growth combined with the business model improvements at Olive Garden helped drive a segment profit margin increase of 320 basis points even while offsetting elevated inflation.
LongHorn continued its strong sales growth with an increase of 22% versus pre-COVID.
However, inflationary pressures including double digits for commodities were at their highest level in the second quarter, resulting in reduction of segment profit margin by 80 basis points.
Sales at our Fine Dining segment increased 22% versus pre-COVID as this segment continues to see a strong rebound in performance.
Segment profit margin grew by 140 basis points, driven by strong sales leverage and operational efficiencies, which more than offset double-digit commodities inflation.
Our other segment grew sales by 7% versus pre-COVID and segment profit margin by 250 basis points.
We now expect total sales of $9.55 billion to $9.7 billion, representing growth of 9% to 11% from pre-COVID levels, same restaurant sales growth of 29% to 31% and 35 to 40 new restaurants.
Capital spending of approximately $425 million, total inflation of approximately 5.5% with commodities inflation between 7% and 8%, total restaurant labor inflation between 6% and 6.5% which includes hourly wage inflation approaching 9%.
EBITDA of $1.55 billion to $1.6 billion and annual effective tax rate of approximately 14% and approximately 130 million diluted average shares outstanding for the year.
All resulting in diluted net earnings per share between $7.35 and $7.60.
This outlook implies EBITDA margin growth versus pre-COVID similar to our previous outlook of 200 to 250 basis points with flow-through from pricing and higher sales helping offset elevated inflation.

Total sales for the second quarter were $2.3 billion, 37% higher than last year, driven by 34.4% same restaurant sales growth and the addition of 34 net new restaurants.
Diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations were $1.48.
As a result, restaurant level EBITDA margin for Darden was 18.8%, 230 basis points better than pre-COVID levels.
We now expect total sales of $9.55 billion to $9.7 billion, representing growth of 9% to 11% from pre-COVID levels, same restaurant sales growth of 29% to 31% and 35 to 40 new restaurants.
All resulting in diluted net earnings per share between $7.35 and $7.60.


Some of the results the team produced include Funds From Operation, came in above guidance up 8.7% compared to fourth quarter last year.
This marks 31 consecutive quarters of higher FFO per share as compared to the prior year quarter, truly a long-term trend.
And for the year, FFO rose 8% to a record $5.38.
This represents an $0.08 per share improvement over our original pre-COVID forecast.
Our quarterly occupancy averaged 96.9% and at quarter end, we were ahead of projections at 98% leased and 97.3% occupied.
Also benefiting the occupancy was a high retention rate of 80% for the year.
Quarterly releasing spreads were strong at 15.4% GAAP, and 7.9% cash.
Our 2020 releasing spreads set an annual record at 21.7% GAAP and 12.3% cash.
Finally, same-store NOI rose 2.2% for the quarter and 3.2% for the year.
I'm grateful we ended the year at 98% leased, our highest quarter end on record.
Houston, our largest market at 97.2% leased, with a ten-month average rent collection of over 99%.
Further, Houston represents 13.1% of rents down 80 basis points from fourth quarter 2019 and is further projected to fall into the 12% as a percent of our NOI this year.
For January thus far, we've collected approximately 99% of monthly rents.
Brent will speak to our budget assumptions, but I'm pleased that in spite of the uncertainty, we finished 2020 at $5.38 per share in FFO and forecast $5.68 for 2021.
Based on the market strength, we're seeing today, our forecast is for $205 million in development starts for 2021.
FFO per share for the fourth quarter exceeded our guidance range at $1.38 per share, and compared to fourth quarter 2019 of $1.27 represented an increase of 8.7%.
From a capital perspective, during the fourth quarter, we issued $17 million of equity at an average price just over $140 per share, and as previously disclosed, we closed on two senior unsecured private placement notes totaling $175 million with a weighted average interest rate of 2.65%.
Our debt to total market capitalization is 19%, debt to EBITDA ratio is 5.2 times and our interest and fixed charge coverage ratio increased over 7.2 times.
We have collected 99.6% of our fourth quarter revenue and we have already collected half of the total rent deferred early in the year of $1.7 million.
Bad debt for the fourth quarter of $1.1 million included a single, straight-line rent charge of $677,000 as part of an ongoing process of replacing an existing tenant with a better credit tenant at a much higher rental rate at a California property.
As a result, our actual FFO per share for the year of $5.38 exceeded our pre-pandemic guidance issued a year ago.
Looking forward, FFO guidance for the first quarter of 2021 is estimated to be in the range of $1.37 per share to $1.41 per share and $5.63 to $5.73 for the year.
The 2021 FFO per share midpoint represents a 5.6% increase over 2020.
The leasing assumptions that comprise 2021 guidance produced an average occupancy midpoint of 96.4% for the year and a cash [Phonetic] same property increase range of 3.5% to 4.5%.
Other notable assumptions for 2021 guidance include $65 million in acquisitions and $60 million in dispositions, $140 million in common stock issuances, $250 million of unsecured debt, which will be offset by $85 million in debt repayment and $1.8 million in bad debt, which represents a forecasted year-over-year bad debt decrease of 35%.

FFO per share for the fourth quarter exceeded our guidance range at $1.38 per share, and compared to fourth quarter 2019 of $1.27 represented an increase of 8.7%.
Looking forward, FFO guidance for the first quarter of 2021 is estimated to be in the range of $1.37 per share to $1.41 per share and $5.63 to $5.73 for the year.


Our current total economic return for the quarter was 7.2% on a quarterly basis, and we have generated a total economic return of 34.8% over the last four quarters, averaging 8% per quarter.
Most importantly, since this new era in history began in January 2020, we have outperformed our industry and other income-oriented vehicles with a 27.1% total shareholder return as noted on Slide five.
This quarter was unique in providing us the opportunity to raise $128 million in new common equity and invest that capital accretive.
For the quarter, we recorded a comprehensive income of $1.76 per common share, a total economic return of $1.38 per common share or 7.2%, and a core net operating income of $0.46 per common share.
Overall, total shareholders' capital grew approximately $100 million or 15% during the quarter as we raised $128 million in net common equity through two public offerings, as Byron noted, redeemed $70 million in higher-cost preferred equity and added approximately $36 million in capital from excess economic return over dividends paid.
The excess economic return was largely driven by our hedging strategy as we actively managed our position and timed our hedging adjustments as the curve steepened during the quarter, resulting in gains of $166 million, more than offsetting the impact of higher rates in our investment portfolio.
Book value per common share during the quarter rose $0.99 or 5.2%.
Absent the cost of the equity raises, book value grew approximately 7.5% during the quarter.
Core net operating income to common shareholders sequentially improved this quarter to $0.46 from $0.45 in Q4, principally resulting from lower G&A expenses and the reduction in the preferred stock dividend with the redemption of the remaining $70 million in Series B preferred stock outstanding mid-quarter.
Average earning assets marginally increased to $4.3 billion as we opportunistically deployed the capital raise throughout the quarter.
At quarter-end, leverage was 6.9 times shareholders' equity, and earning assets were $5.2 billion.
The adjusted net interest spread was slightly lower at 187 basis points versus 198 basis points last quarter.
On the balance sheet, portfolio asset yields and TBA specialness were 12 basis points lower during the quarter, which was partially offset by the benefit from lower borrowing costs, which declined five basis points.
TBA drop income increased 33% during the quarter as we more heavily invested in TBAs, but at slightly lower net interest spreads as TBA specialness was lower in the quarter.
Agency RMBS prepayments speeds were 18.4 CPR for the quarter versus 17.1 CPR for Q4, while overall portfolio CPRs, including the CMBS portfolio, were approximately 14 CPR.
As of December 31, 2019, you can see that was at 1.92%.
That yield touched something like 50 basis points in the first quarter of 2020, and we've come all the way back to 1.74% at the end of the first quarter.
Again, on December 31, 2019, repo rates stood at 2%.
And now -- one-month repo rate now is sitting in the mid-teens, 14 basis points.
As Steve mentioned, book value increased to $1.44 or 7.5% on a gross basis, less $0.45 cost of the capital raises, we get to the net of $0.99 or 5.2% increase reported for the quarter.
Roughly 65% of the $1.44 or $0.90 of the book value increase was due to the portfolio positioning from the existing portfolio.
The other 35% of the book value increase came from the timely deployment of capital from the two raises.
We're ending the quarter with leverage at 6.9 times, up about 0.5 times from year-end.
Earning assets actually ended up quarter-over-quarter, almost $1.1 billion higher, including TBAs.
Peak month-end leverage during the quarter was 7.7 times.
You can see that on Page 11.
Post-quarter-end, we took some profits on our 30- and 15-year MBS TBA positions.
Leverage is about 6.1 times and book value is flat versus quarter-end.
On-Page 19, we have a pricing matrix that just goes through by coupon, what happened to various types of specified pools over the quarter.
We expect to see continued specialness in the two and 2.5 coupons well into the third quarter.
At the current leverage, which I mentioned, we had delivered post-quarter-end and balance sheet size, which is about $1 billion higher versus quarter-end -- versus year-end, we still expect core net operating income to continue to exceed the level of the dividend.
At this point, we're estimating, again, another two to three turns of capacity that offers additional total economic return power of anywhere between 1% to 3%.
And just as an example, one turn of leverage invested at 10% economic return is $0.24, which represents a meaningful upside to returns from today.

For the quarter, we recorded a comprehensive income of $1.76 per common share, a total economic return of $1.38 per common share or 7.2%, and a core net operating income of $0.46 per common share.
Core net operating income to common shareholders sequentially improved this quarter to $0.46 from $0.45 in Q4, principally resulting from lower G&A expenses and the reduction in the preferred stock dividend with the redemption of the remaining $70 million in Series B preferred stock outstanding mid-quarter.


Guyana is positioned to become a significant cash engine as multiple phases of low cost oil development come online, which we expect will drive our portfolio breakeven Brent oil price below $40 a barrel by the middle of the decade.
In terms to preserving cash, at the end of March, we had [Technical Issues] billion cash on the balance sheet, a $3.5 billion revolving credit facility, which is undrawn and was recently extend by one year to 2024 and no debt maturities until 2023.
We've mainted a disciplined capital on exploatory budget for 2021 of $1.9 billon.
More than 80% of this year's capital spend is allocated to Guyana, where our three sanctioned oil developments have breakeven oil price of between $25 and $35 per barrel.
And to The Bakken, where we have a large inventory of future drilling locations that generate attractive financial returns at $50 per barrel WTI.
To manage downside risk, in 2021 we have hedged a 120,000 barrels of oil per day with $55 per barrel WTI put options and 30,000 barrels of oil per day with $60 per barrel Brent put options.
In March, we entered into an agreement to sell our oil and gas interest in Denmark for a total consideration of $150 million effective January 1, 2021.
On April 8, we announced the sale of our Little Knife and Murphy Creek nonstrategic acreage interest in The Bakken for a total consideration of $312 million effective March 1, 2021.
During the quarter, we also received $70 million in net proceeds from the public offering of a small portion of our Class A shares in Hess Midstream LP.
In February, as WTI oil prices moved above $50 per barrel, we added a second rig, which will allow us to sustain production and strong cash flow generation from our largest operated asset.
On the Stabroek Block, where Hess has a 30% interest, and ExxonMobil is the operator, we've made 18 significant discoveries to date, with gross discovered recoverable resources of approximately nine billion barrels of oil equvialent.
Yesterday, we announced the discovery of the Uaru-2 Well with encouraging results that further define the large aerial extent of this accumulation, underpinning a potential future oil development.
In addition, drilling activites are under way, for appraisal at the Longtail-3 Well and for exploration at the Koeb-1 prospect.
Production from phase 1 ran at its full capacity at 120,000 gross barrels of oil per day during the first quarter.
Production has since ramped back up and is expected to remain in the range of 100,000 to 110,000 gross barrels of oil per day until repairs to the discharge silencer are completed in approximately three months.
Following this repair, production is expected to return to or above Liza Destiny's nameplate capacity of 120,000 barrels of oil per day.
The Liza Phase-II development is on track to achieve first oil in early 2022 with a capacity of 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day.
Our third oil development on the Stabroek Block, at the Payara field, is expected to achieve first oil in 2024, also with a capacity of 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day.
We continue to see the potential for at least 6 FPSOs, on the block by 2027 and longer term for up to 10 FPSOs to develop the discovered resources on the block.
We support the aim of the Paris agreement and also a global ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
In 2020 we significantly surpassed our five-year emission reduction targets, reducing the operated Scope one and Scope two greenhouse gas emissions intensity by approximately 40% and flaring intensity by approximately 60% compared to 2014 levels.
We recently announced our new five-year emission reduction targets for 2025 which are to reduce operated Scope one and Scope two greenhouse gas emissions intensity by approximately 44% and methane emissions intensity by approximately 50% from 2017 levels.
Company wide net production averaged 315,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, excluding Libya, which was in line with our guidance.
Bakken net production in the first quarter averaged 158,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, which was below our guidance of approximately 170,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Of this shortfall, approximately 8,000 barrels per day was due to the significant increase in NGL prices in the quarter.
The other fact that effected Bakken production in the quarter was related to winter storm Yuri, which brought power outages and average wind chill temperatures of minus 34 degrees Fahrenheit for two weeks in February.
In the first quarter, we drilled 11 wells and brought four new wells online.
In the second quarter, we expect to drill approximately 15 wells and bring approximately 10 new wells online.
And for the full year 2021, we expect to drill approximately 55 wells and to bring approximately 45 new wells online.
For the second quarter, we forecast that our Bakken net production will average approximately 155,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
And for the full year 2021, between 155,000 barrels and 160,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
We expect net production to build in the second half of the year and forecast 2021 exit rate of between 170,000 barrels and 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
In the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, first quarter net production averaged 56,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, reflecting strong operations following hurricane recovery in late 2020.
In the second quarter, we forecast that Gulf of Mexico net production will average approximately 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
For the full year 2021, we maintain our guidance for Gulf of Mexico net production to average approximately 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, reflecting planned maintenance downtime and natural field declines.
In the Gulf of Thailand, net production in the first quarter was 64,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day as natural gas nominations continue to increase due to strong economic growth.
Second quarter and full year 2021 net production are forecast to average approximately 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Our discoveries and developments on the Stabroek Block are world-class in every respect and with Brent breakeven oil prices of between $25 and $35 per barrel represent some of the lowest project breakeven oil prices in the industry.
Production from Liza Phase-1 averaged 121,000 gross barrels of oil per day or 31,000 barrels of oil per day net to Hess in the first quarter.
Production is currently averaging between 110,000 and 100,000 gross barrels of oil per day, and is expected to stay in that range while repairs are made to the silencer.
Upon reinstallation and restart of the flash gas compression system, expected in approximately three months, poduction is expected to return to or above nameplate -- nameplate capacity of 120,000 barrels of oil per day.
For the second quarter, we now forecast net production to average between 20,000 barrels and 25,000 barrels of oil per day.
And our full-year 2021 net production to average approximately 30,000 barrels of oil per day.
I think it's important to note that the overall performance of the subsurface in Liza-1 has been outstanding.
At Liza Phase II, the project is progressing to plan with about 90% of the overall work completed and first oil remains on track for early 2022.
The Liza Unity FPSO with a production capacity of 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day is preparing to sale from the Keppel yard in Singapore to Guyana mid year.
Our third development, Payara, is also progressing to plan with about 38% of the overall work completed.
The project will utilize the Liza Prosperity FPSO, which will have the capacity to produce up to 220,000 gross barrels of oil per day.
In terms of drilling activity, as announced yesterday, the Uaru-2 well successfully appraised the Uaru well discovery and also made an incremental discovery in deeper intervals [Phonetic].
The well encountered approximately 120ft of high quality oil bearing sandstone reservoir and was drilled 6.8 miles from the discovery well, implying a potentially large areal extent.
The Stena Carron has commenced exploration drilling at the Koeb-1 well and an exploration well at Whiptail is planned to spud in May.
Further exploration and appraisal activities are planned for the second half of 2021 with a total of approximately 12 wells to be drilled this year.
Company wide second quarter net production is forecast to average between 290,000 barrels and 295,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Full year 2021 net production is now also expected to average between 290,000 barrels and 295,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, compared to our previous forecast of approximately 310,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
This reduction reflects the following: approximately 7,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, due to lower entitlements, resulting from the increase in NGL strip prices.
Second factor is approximately 6,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day was related to the sale of our interest in Denmark and non-strategic acreage in North Dakota, for which we brought full value forward.
The balance primarily reflect short term weather effects in The Bakken, from which we expect to catch back up over the course of the year and again forecast a 2021 Bakken exit rate of between 170,000 barrels and 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
We had net income of $252 million in the first quarter of 2021, compared to an adjusted net loss of $176 million, which excluded an after-tax gain of $79 million from an asset sale in the fourth quarter of 2020.
E&P had net income of $308 million in the first quarter of 2021, compared to an adjusted net loss of $118 million in the previous quarter.
Higher realized crude oil, NGL, and natural gas selling prices increased earnings by $192 million.
Higher sales volumes increased earnings by $99 million.
Lower DD&A expense increased earnings by $88 million.
Lower cash costs increased earnings by $39 million.
All other items increased earnings by $8 million for an overall increase in first quarter earnings of $426 million.
Excluding the two VLCC cargo sales, our E&P sales volumes were over lifted compared with production by approximately 300,000 barrels, which improved after-tax results by approximately $10 million.
The sales from the two VLCC cargoes increased net income by approximately $70 million in the quarter.
The impact of higher NGL prices improved first quarter earnings by approximately $55 million and reduced Bakken NGL volumes received under percentage of proceeds or POP contracts by 9,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, compared with the fourth quarter of 2020.
The Midstream segment had net income of $75 million in the first quarter of 2021, compared to $62 million in the prior quarter.
Midstream EBITDA before noncontrolling interest amounted to $225 million in the first quarter of 2021, compared to $198 million in the previous quarter.
In March Hess received net proceeds of $70 million from the public offering of 3,450,000 Hess owned Class A shares in Hess Midstream.
At quarter end, excluding Midstream, cash and cash equivalents were approximately $1.86 billion and our total liquidity was $5.5 billion, including available committed credit facilities.
While debt and finance lease obligations totaled $6.6 billion.
Our fully undrawn 3.5 billion revolving credit facility is now committed through May 2024 following the amendment executed earlier this month to extend the maturity date by one year.
In the first quarter of 2021, net cash provided by operating activities before changes in working capital was $815 million compared with $532 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, primarily due to higher realized selling prices.
In the first quarter, net cash provided from operating activities after changes in working capital was $591 million compared with $486 million in the prior quarter.
The sale of our Little Knife and Murphy Creek acreage in The Bakken for total consideration of $312 million is expected to close within the next few weeks and the sale of our interest in Denmark for total consideration of $150 million is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.
Our E&P cash costs were $9.81 per barrel of oil equivalent including Libya and $10.21 per barrel of oil equivalent, excluding Libya, in the first quarter of 2021.
We project E&P cash cost excluding Libya to be in the range of $12 to $13 per barrel of oil equivalent for the second quarter, primarily reflecting the timing of maintenance and workover spend.
Full year E&P cash costs are expected to be in the range of $11 to $12 per barrel of oil equivalent, which is up from previous full year guidance of $10.50 to 11.50 per barrel of oil equivalent, due to the impact of updated production guidance.
DD&A expense was $11.83 per barrel of oil equivalent, including Libya.
And $12.36 per barrel of oil equivalent, excluding Libya in the first quarter.
DD&A expense excluding Libya is forecast to be in the range of $11.50 per barrel to $12.50 per barrel of oil equivalent for the second quarter.
And full-year guidance of $12 per barrel to $13 per barrel of oil equivalent is unchanged.
This results in projected total E&P unit operating costs, excluding Libya to be in the range of $23.50 per barrel to $25.50 per barrel of oil equivalent for the second quarter.
And $23 per barrel to $25 per barrel of oil equivalent for the full year of 2021.
Exploration expenses excluding dry hole costs are expected to be in the range of $40 million to $45 million in the second quarter.
And full-year guidance of $170 million to $180 million is unchanged.
The Midstream tariff is projected to be in the range of $260 million to $270 million for the second quarter.
And full-year guidance of $1.90 million to 1.115 million is unchanged.
E&P income tax expense excluding Libya is expected to be in the range of $25 million to $30 million for the second quarter.
And $105 million to $115 million for the full year, which is up from previous guidance of $80 million to $90 million due to higher commodity prices.
We expect non-cash option premium amortization will be approximately $65 million for the second quarter and approximately $245 million for the full year, which is up from previous guidance of $205 million, reflecting additional premiums paid to increase the strike price on our crude oil hedging contracts.
Our E&P capital and exploratory expenditures are expected to be approximately $500 million in the second quarter, and the full year guidance of approximately $1.9 billion remains unchanged.
For Midstream, we anticipate net income attributable to Hess from the Midstream segment to be in the range of $60 million to $70 million for the second quarter and the full year guidance of $280 million to $290 million remains unchanged.
For corporate, corporate expenses are estimated to be in the range of $30 million to $35 million for the second quarter, and full-year guidance of $130 to $140 million is unchanged.
Interest expense is estimated to be in the range of $95 million to $100 million for the second quarter, and full-year guidance of $380 million to $390 million is unchanged.

Company wide net production averaged 315,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, excluding Libya, which was in line with our guidance.
Bakken net production in the first quarter averaged 158,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, which was below our guidance of approximately 170,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
And for the full year 2021, between 155,000 barrels and 160,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
In the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, first quarter net production averaged 56,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, reflecting strong operations following hurricane recovery in late 2020.
Company wide second quarter net production is forecast to average between 290,000 barrels and 295,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Full year 2021 net production is now also expected to average between 290,000 barrels and 295,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, compared to our previous forecast of approximately 310,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.