By comparison, the Top 5 public companies in our sector were on average, flat on both the top and bottom line.
With regard to our financial performance for the fourth quarter of 2020, the Company's net sales increased by 8% to $141 million, as compared to sales of $131 million, this time last year.
Within that overall improvement, our US sales were up 4% to $85 million, and our international sales increased by 15% to $56 million.
International sales accounted for 39% of total sales, as compared to 37% of total sales, this time last year.
In our US crop market, sales increased by approximately 19% as a result of strong sales of products sold into the Midwest row crop market such as, our SmartBox, Counter, and Aztec brands, as growers reacted to increased blood pressure and on to increased commodity pricing for soybeans and corn.
Sales for our domestic non-crop market declined about 45% as a result of lower sales of our deep Dibrom products into vector control districts, primarily as customers worked to address slightly elevated channel inventory levels.
Finally, our international sales grew by 15%.
Our fourth quarter non-crop gross margin declined from 42% in Q4 of 2019 to 35% in 2020, driven primarily by the reduced market demand for Dibrom already discussed, and by the lower factory activity rate.
Overall, gross margin performance for the final quarter of 2020 was in line with the prior year at 36%.
Operating expenses for the quarter increased by 11% as compared to the same period of the prior year.
This includes the addition of the activities of the two newly acquired businesses, which together accounted for approximately 40% of the increase.
With regard to the full-year performance, the overall business revenues reduced by about 2% in 2019, as compared to 2019 -- in 2020, as compared to 2019.
Within that revenue decline, our US crop business increased by 1% to $223 million in 2020, our US non-crop business sales declined by 21%, to end at $49 million, and our international business remained approximately flat with new business revenue offsetting the effect of foreign exchange rates.
As you can see from the chart, net factory costs for the year amounted to approximately 2.8% of sales.
This compares to 2.6% for 2019, and our target of 2.5%.
For the full year 2020, despite some movements by category, gross margin percentage was in line with 2019, at 38%.
For the full year of 2020, our operating expenses increased by 2%, to end at $154 million, or 33% of sales as compared to $151 million, or 32% of sales last year.
And at the bottom line, we've seen a very strong finish to 2020 and reported net income, up 12% compared to 2019.
Including working capital, we generated $89 million from operations, which is about nine times what we have achieved on a -- in average for the prior two years.
First, we invested a total of $36 million, acquiring two businesses, making a strategic equity investment, continuing to develop our manufacturing capability, and advancing our SIMPAS delivery systems.
Secondly, we paid down debt by $43 million.
At the end of December 2020, our inventories were at $164 million.
This includes about $14 million of inventory related to acquisitions completed since late December 2019.
And adjusted or underlying inventory of $152 million is slightly better than the $154 million we indicated during the last call.
The end result for 2020 resulted in consolidated accounts receivable of $119 million in 2020, as compared to $136 million, this time last year, notwithstanding the higher sales in the fourth quarter.
The second is the multiplayer under the terms of the credit facility, which is slightly higher this year than last, and accounts for about $15 million increase in availability.
And the third is the level of debt, which accounts for $43 million increase in availability.
Taking all that together, availability at December 31, 2020 is $85 million, as compared to $27 million for the same time last year.
Over the past several months, we have screened over 130,000 active ingredients in our lab, and have identified a manageable number of promising candidates for further development and possible commercialization.
Similarly, under our Envance Technologies' Dragon Fire research platform, we are developing patented bioherbicide products and applications to help us address a global $18 billion market for non-selective herbicides.
Its invigorate line as an [Indecipherable] approved consortium of 22 bacteria that have been developed to promote multiple benefits including, soil -- include improvement of the soil microbial community on many global crops and soil conditions, facilitating nitrogen absorption and nutrient uptake, while supporting root biomass and plant health.
With nearly 150 pending and issued patents in multiple countries, Agrinos is proving to be an excellent fit for American Vanguard.
But, we are targeting more systems for this planting season, and we expect or hope that we will get into that 100,000 acre target, which is the target that we set for ourselves.
We expect interest expense will be similar to 2020 levels, and our overall tax rate should be in the mid-20% range.
Finally, we are targeting a debt to EBITDA ratio in the 2 times to 2.5 times range.
And note, that at the end of 2020, our debt to EBITDA ratio was 2.2 times.


Revenue increased 34% to $692 million.
Segment operating income increased 206% [Phonetic] to $114 million, which equates to segment operating margin of 16.5%.
Reported earnings per share decreased 15% to $0.45, driven primarily by a $28 million after-tax loss on the divestiture of InTelCo Management LLC, formerly a wholly owned subsidiary that holds legacy asbestos liabilities and related insurance assets, as well as prior-year income tax benefits, and increased corporate and environmental costs.
Some of our accomplishments, which you can soon read about it in the supplement, include a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a 25% reduction in workplace incidents.
The auto businesses in MT grew organic revenue nearly 80% and MT's revenue exceeded pre-COVID levels from 2019 once again this quarter.
This quarter we were awarded content on 10 new electric vehicle platforms, seven of which were in China and two on key strategic platforms in the growing North American market.
Building on the first quarter momentum, our connectors business in Connect and Control Technologies grew sales by 17% organically, after 8% organic in Q1.
We saw continued strength in the North American distribution channel; and sequentially, industrial connectors in Q2 grew 6% versus Q1, due to distribution strength worldwide.
We also drove 8% organic revenue growth in Industrial Process, driven by strong pump project deliveries, which were up 52% organically in the quarter due to strength in the chemical and oil and gas markets.
In total, we drove 47% organic orders growth across ITT with order levels surpassing 2019, positioning us well for the second half of the year and for 2022.
First, Motion Technologies grew orders by 76% organically, driven mainly by auto, and we also saw a strong performance in valve [Phonetic], which grew over 20% organically.
Second, in Industrial Process, orders were up 18% organically and up 7% sequentially, driven by continued recovery in our short-cycle business, where orders grew 24% across parts, valves and service.
Finally, in CCT, orders were up 47% organically, driven largely by industrial connectors and aerospace components.
From a profitability perspective, despite increasing pressure from commodity costs and supply chain disruptions, we delivered nearly 400 basis points of adjusted segment margin expansion, with triple-digit margin expansion in each segment.
As a result of the revenue growth and margin expansion, ITT delivered adjusted earnings per share of $0.94, growing 65% and surpassing our pre-COVID adjusted earnings per share levels in Q2 2019.
We now anticipate organic revenue growth will be 8% to 10% for the year, a 300 basis point increase on both the low- and high-end of our already increased guidance from the first quarter.
The increased sales volume and strong productivity expected in 2021 will generate adjusted earnings per share in the range of $3.90 to $4.05 at the high end, which equates to 22% to 27% growth versus prior year.
This is an $0.08 improvement at the midpoint, after a $0.30 increase after the first quarter, and this puts ITT on pace to comfortably surpass 2018 adjusted earnings per share despite significant inflationary pressure.
Our Friction and Wolverine OE businesses grew over 60% organically.
In CCT, we drove nearly 19% organic revenue growth in industrial connectors, mainly through distribution, continuing the momentum we saw in the first quarter.
Demand in commercial aerospace is increasing, exhibited by the nearly 70% growth in aerospace orders.
The book to bill in CCT was an impressive 1.18 for the quarter, which positions us well for the future.
Our focus on operational excellence produced 250 basis points of expansion in Q2 at the ITT level and 390 basis points at the segment level.
By segment, MT grew margin 660 basis points, Connect and Control 230 basis points with an incremental margin of 37%, and Industrial Process grew margin 100 basis points to nearly 15% once again.
Regarding raw materials' inflation, the impact this quarter was approximately 240 basis points, which was higher than what we expected.
Excluding this one-time non-recurring item, adjusted free cash flow was $131 million.
We generated over 400 basis points of productivity while investing for future growth and successfully navigated challenging market conditions; and our nearly 50% organic growth in orders position ITT for a strong second half.
Motion Technologies' Q2 organic revenue growth of 64% was primarily driven by strength in auto.
And from an operating standpoint, our OE business performed very well, with 99%-plus on-time performance.
This was a key reason MT's revenue eclipsed pre-COVID levels in the second quarter of 2019 by 8%.
Segment margin expanded 660 basis points versus prior year to 18.8%, mainly due to higher volumes and productivity, offset by the impact of higher raw material costs for steel, tin, and copper.
However, MT delivered almost 30% incremental margin, in spite of these headwinds.
Wolverine sales growth was over 60%, driven by OE shims in North America and Europe, and in sealings, while KONI grew by double digits organically.
For Industrial Process, revenue was up 8% organically.
This was driven partially by an easy prior-year comparison, stemming from steep declines in project shipments, which resulted in over 50% revenue growth this quarter.
IP grew 18% organically and 7% sequentially, due to the short cycle; namely, parts, valves and service.
IP's margin expanded 100 basis points to 14.7%, with an incremental margin of 24%.
Lastly, in Connect and Control Technologies, we continued to turn the corner with incremental margins of 37% this quarter.
The book to bill was largely above 1 and backlog was up 16% compared to year-end 2020, which again position us well heading into 2022.
Partially offsetting these items was a roughly $0.03 benefit from foreign currency, consistent with our outlook, and a roughly $0.01 benefit from a lower-than-planned effective tax rate of 21.5%.
On July 1, ITT divested 100% of its equity of a subsidiary that holds legacy asbestos liabilities and related insurance assets to Delticus, a portfolio company of Warburg Pincus.
At closing, ITT contributed $398 million in cash and Delticus contributed $60 million in cash to InTelCo.
The benefits of this transaction include the indemnification for all legacy asbestos liabilities and stronger free cash flow generation in the absence of asbestos-related payments that we previously estimated at $20 million to $30 million per year on average over the next 10 years, prior to the divestiture.
In the meantime, we're seeing continued momentum in weekly run rates in our short-cycle businesses in Industrial Process and connectors, which we believe will drive organic revenue growth to a new range of 8% to 10% for the year.
Our outlook for adjusted segment margin remains at approximately 17.1% at the midpoint.
As you will see on Slide 7, our revised guidance assuming the incremental impact from this trend will be $0.09 at the high-end for the remainder of 2021.
Our revised adjusted earnings per share guidance reflects an $0.08 improvement at the midpoint of our range, eclipsing 2019 levels and our previous high end.
The net impact of all other items is roughly $0.01 benefit to full-year adjusted EPS, including a slightly lower-than-planned effective tax rate.
And we continue to expect a 1% reduction in the weighted average share count, given our share repurchases to date.
Additionally, we are raising our adjusted free cash flow guidance by $5 million at the low- and high-ends of our previous range to reflect the higher operating income generated in the first half, offset by further working capital investments to support future growth, especially given the supply chain disruptions we are experiencing today.
Despite the margin challenges in Q3, we still expect all three businesses to be up over 100 basis points for the full year, which will eclipse ITT's segment margin for 2019.

Reported earnings per share decreased 15% to $0.45, driven primarily by a $28 million after-tax loss on the divestiture of InTelCo Management LLC, formerly a wholly owned subsidiary that holds legacy asbestos liabilities and related insurance assets, as well as prior-year income tax benefits, and increased corporate and environmental costs.
As a result of the revenue growth and margin expansion, ITT delivered adjusted earnings per share of $0.94, growing 65% and surpassing our pre-COVID adjusted earnings per share levels in Q2 2019.
The increased sales volume and strong productivity expected in 2021 will generate adjusted earnings per share in the range of $3.90 to $4.05 at the high end, which equates to 22% to 27% growth versus prior year.


We look forward to being able to fully maximize the reopening of theater exhibition as we expect that 98% of our theaters will be opened by the end of May, and consumers will have the opportunity to see a strong lineup of film titles for the remainder of 2021, many of which have been delayed several times.
During the quarter, we also made progress on our strategic capital recycling activities and utilized proceeds from dispositions and stronger collections to pay off the remaining $90 million balance on our $1 billion unsecured revolving credit facility.
At the end of the first quarter, our total investments were approximately $6.5 billion with 354 properties in service and 93% occupied.
During the quarter, our investment spending was $52.1 million, entirely in our experiential portfolio.
The spending included build-to-suit development and redevelopment projects that were committed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the acquisition of a newly constructed TopGolf facility in San Jose, California, for $26.7 million, which was acquired primarily with cash received from TopGolf as payment of a portion of their deferred rent balance.
Our experiential portfolio comprises 280 properties with 42 operators is 93% occupied and accounts for 91% of our total investments or approximately $5.9 billion of the total $6.5 billion.
Our education portfolio comprises 74 properties with eight operators and at the end of the quarter was 100% occupied.
71% of our theaters were open as of April 30.
And at that point, we anticipate 98% of our theaters will be open.
The outperformance of all three films drove box office to $189 million for April, a 66% increase from March's $113 million.
openings and won't be fully open until late May and that less than 20% of Canadian theaters are open.
The remaining film slate of high-quality, tent-pole films lines up nicely to drive increasing consumer demand through 2021, beginning at Memorial Day with A Quiet Place Part II and following with Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Dune, Cruella, Fast and Furious 9, Black Widow, Suicide Squad, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Eternals, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Top Gun: Maverick, Spider-Man: No Way Home, the Kingsman and Matrix 4.
It appears to be coalescing around 45 days, down from the prior 90 days.
Historically, over 90% of ticket sales occurred in the first 45 days.
This follows Cinemark and Netflix's partnering to show Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, the Midnight Sky and the Christmas Chronicles 2 theatrically.
Approximately 96% of our non theater operators are open.
In Q1, we sold one theater property and a vacant non-theater building for net proceeds of $13.7 million.
1 priority was to work proactively and diligently with our customers to structure appropriate deferral and repayment agreements.
Tenants and borrowers paid 72% of contractual cash revenue for the first quarter and 77% in April.
Finally, customers representing substantially all of our contractual cash revenue, which includes each of our top 20 customers, are either paying their contract rent or interest or have a deferral agreement in place.
In those deferral agreements, we have granted approximately 5% of permanent rent and interest payment reductions.
FFO as adjusted for the quarter was $0.48 per share versus $0.97 in the prior year.
And AFFO for the quarter was $0.52 per share, compared to $1.14 in the prior year.
Total revenue from continuing operations for the quarter was $111.8 million versus $151 million in the prior year.
Additionally, we had lower other income and lower other expense of $6.9 million and $7 million, respectively, due primarily to the Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark remaining closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Percentage rents for the quarter totaled $2 million versus $2.8 million in the prior year.
Property operating expense of $15.3 million for the quarter was about $2.2 million -- was up about $2.2 million from prior year, due primarily to increased vacancy.
Interest expense increased by $4.4 million from prior year to $39.2 million.
This increase resulted, in part, from a higher weighted average amount outstanding on our $1 billion revolving credit facility.
As you may recall, at the end of the first quarter of 2020, we borrowed $750 million as a precautionary measure to provide us additional liquidity during the uncertainty caused by COVID-19.
At December 31, 2020, due to stronger collections and significant liquidity, including proceeds from dispositions, we reduced the outstanding balance to $590 million and then further reduced the balance to $90 million in January of 2021.
Adding to the increase in interest expense, we continue to pay higher rates of interest on our bank credit facilities and private placement notes during the covenant relief period of about 100 basis points and 125 basis points, respectively.
Lastly, during the quarter, we reduced our allowance for credit loss on our mortgage notes and notes receivable, which resulted in a credit loss benefit of $2.8 million versus a loss of $1.2 million in the prior year.
Our debt-to-gross assets was 39% on a book basis at March 31.
At quarter end, we had total outstanding debt of $3.2 billion, of which $3.1 billion is either fixed rate debt or debt that has been fixed-through interest rate swaps with a blended coupon of approximately 4.7%.
Additionally, our weighted average debt maturity is approximately five years, and we have no scheduled debt maturities until 2022 when only our revolving credit facility matures, which currently has a 0 balance.
We had $538.1 million of cash on hand at quarter end.
And as I mentioned, we paid down our revolver to 0 in April.
Cash collections from customers continued to improve, and we're approximately 72% of contractual cash revenue or $98.1 million for the first quarter and 77% for April.
During the quarter, we also collected $29.5 million of deferred rent and interest from accrual basis tenants and borrowers, including the payment received from TopGolf that was used to purchase its San Jose location.
And the deferred rent and interest receivable balance on our books at March 31 was $59 million.
Subsequent to the end of the quarter in April, we received an additional $10.5 million of such deferral payments, bringing the year-to-date total to $40 million.
We expect to continue to collect deferred rent and interest from accrual basis tenants and borrowers, primarily over the next 36 months.
The expected range we expect to recognize in Q2 2021 of such contractual cash revenue is $109 million to $116 million or 80% to 85%.
Additionally, the expected range we expect to collect of such contractual cash revenue in Q2 of '21 is $102 million to $109 million or 75% to 80%.


Globally, our retail energy provider businesses which generated 94% of our revenue added 64,000 RCEs year-over-year and 20,000 sequentially to reach 421,000 RCEs with solid growth in both our domestic and international markets.
Global meters served increased by 88,000 year-over-year and 4,000 sequentially to 536,000.
Here in the US, Genie Retail Energy added 25,000 RCEs year-over-year and 13,000 sequentially to reach 343,000 RCEs.
Domestic meters served declined by 4,000 year-over-year and 10,000 sequentially to 374,000.
These factors combined to increase electric per meter consumption by 26% compared to the year-ago quarter.
As a result, gross meter adds decreased to 40,000 this quarter from 69,000 in the prior quarter and from 91,000 in the year-ago quarter.
GRE's churn rate decreased to 3.9% in the second quarter from 4.7% in the first quarter.
RCEs increased 40,000 year-over-year and 7,000 sequentially to 79,000.
Meters served increased by 93,000 year-over-year and 14,000 sequentially to 161,000 meters.
At June 30, GRE International held 30% of our global meters served and nearly 18% of our global RCEs.
GES recorded an impairment of $800,000 in the second quarter related to the writedown of an asset impacting income from operations but not adjusted EBITDA.
Consolidated revenue in the second quarter increased by $15.1 million to $76.1 million.
At Genie Retail Energy, revenue increased by $12 million to $66.5 million.
Electricity consumption increased 35% from the year-ago quarter, more than offsetting a modest decrease in revenue per kilowatt hours sold.
Overseas, at Genie Retail Energy International, revenue increased by $2.2 million dollars to $5 million reflecting meter base growth at Lumo and Scandinavia and Genie Japan.
During the quarter, we provided Orbit with an additional $1.5 million of capital, resulting in a net loss of Orbit Energy of that amount compared to a net loss of $867,000 a year ago quarter.
Our Genie Energy Services division increased revenue by $859,000 to $4.6 million.
Consolidated gross profit in the second quarter, more than doubled from the year-ago quarter increasing by $10.5 million to $19.5 million.
This quarter we benefited from the strong consumption levels at Genie Retail Energy, and our consolidated gross margin rebounded to 25.6% from 14.7% in the year-ago quarter.
The decrease in meter acquisition expense of GRE helped us to reduce consolidated SG&A expense by $2.3 million to $16 million.
The rebound in GRE's margin and reduced customer acquisition spend helped drive a $12 month dollar improvement in our consolidated income from operations, which is $2.7 million compared to a loss from operations of $9.3 million in the year-ago quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA reflects the equity net loss of equity method investees of $1.2 million was positive $3.5 million, compared to negative $9.1 million a year ago.
Earnings per share was $0.06 per diluted per share compared to a net loss of $0.29 per share in the year-ago quarter.
At June 30, we had $51.8 million dollars in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash and working capital of $49.1 million.
Cash provided by operating activities in the second quarter was $16.4 million compared to cash used in operating activities of $3.1 million in the second quarter of 2019.
This quarter, we repurchased over 200,000 shares of Genie Class B common stock for $1.5 million.

Consolidated revenue in the second quarter increased by $15.1 million to $76.1 million.
Earnings per share was $0.06 per diluted per share compared to a net loss of $0.29 per share in the year-ago quarter.


We take great pride that for nearly 100 years, we have provided innovative, high-quality products and solutions for the containment and delivery of injectable medicines.
We had 13% organic sales growth in the first quarter, largely through strong high-value product sales.
GAAP measures are described in slides 13 to 16.
We recorded net sales of $491.5 million, representing organic sales growth of 12.7% and 30 basis points of inorganic growth.
Proprietary Products sales grew organically by 11.8% in the quarter.
High-value products, which make up more than 63% of Proprietary Products sales, grew double digits and had solid momentum across all market units throughout Q1.
We recorded $167 million in gross profit, $20 million or 13.6% above Q1 of last year, and gross profit margin of 34% with a 90-basis point expansion from the same period last year.
We saw improvement in adjusted operating profit with $88 million reported this quarter, compared to $71.3 million in the same period last year or a 23.4% increase.
Our adjusted operating profit margin of 17.9% was a 180-basis point increase from the same period last year.
And finally, adjusted diluted earnings per share grew 36% for Q1.
Excluding stock tax benefit, earnings per share grew by approximately 31%.
Volume and mix contributed $51.1 million or 11.5 percentage points of growth.
Sales price increases contributed $6.6 million or 1.5 percentage points of growth.
And changes in foreign currency exchange rates reduced sales by $9.7 million or a reduction of 2.2 percentage points.
Looking at margin performance, Slide 9 shows our consolidated gross profit margin of 34% for Q1 2020, up from 33.1% in Q1 2019.
Proprietary Products' first-quarter gross profit margin of 40.2% was 130 basis points above the margin achieved in the first quarter of 2019.
Production efficiencies and sales price increases, partially offset by increased overhead costs, contract manufacturing's first-quarter gross profit margin of 14.3% was 30 basis points above the margin achieved in the first quarter of 2019.
Our adjusted operating profit margin of 17.9% was a 180-basis point increase from the same period last year, largely attributable to our Proprietary Products' gross profit expansion.
Operating cash flow was $57.1 million for the first quarter of 2020, an increase of $9.5 million compared to the same period last year, a 20% increase.
Our Q1 2020 capital spending was $32.1 million, $3.3 million higher than the same period last year and in line with guidance.
Working capital of $633.1 million at March 31, 2020, was $74 million lower than at December 31, 2019 primarily due to a reduction in our cash and cash equivalents.
Our cash balance of March 31 of $335.3 million was $103.8 million less than our December 2019 balance primarily due to $115 million of expenditures under our share repurchase program.
Full-year 2020 net sales guidance continues to be in a range of between $1.95 billion and $1.97 billion.
This includes an estimated headwind of $26 million based on current foreign exchange rates compared to prior guidance, which forecasted a $15 million headwind.
We expect organic sales growth to be approximately 8%.
We expect our full-year 2020 reported diluted earnings per share guidance to be in a range of $3.52 to $3.62, compared to prior guidance of $3.45 to $3.55.
Capital expenditure will be in the range of $130 million to $140 million.
Estimated FX headwind on earnings per share has an impact of approximately $0.07 based on current foreign currency exchange rates, compared to prior guidance of $0.04.
The revised guidance also includes a $0.07 earnings per share impact from our first-quarter tax benefits from stock-based compensation.
So to summarize the key takeaways for the first quarter, strong top-line growth in both Proprietary and contract manufacturing, gross profit margin improvement, growth in operating profit margin, growth in adjusted diluted earnings per share and growth in operating and free cash flow, our sales and earnings per share projections for 2020 and performance are in line with our long-term construct of approximately 6% to 8% organic sales growth and earnings per share expansion.

We recorded net sales of $491.5 million, representing organic sales growth of 12.7% and 30 basis points of inorganic growth.
Full-year 2020 net sales guidance continues to be in a range of between $1.95 billion and $1.97 billion.
This includes an estimated headwind of $26 million based on current foreign exchange rates compared to prior guidance, which forecasted a $15 million headwind.
We expect organic sales growth to be approximately 8%.
We expect our full-year 2020 reported diluted earnings per share guidance to be in a range of $3.52 to $3.62, compared to prior guidance of $3.45 to $3.55.
So to summarize the key takeaways for the first quarter, strong top-line growth in both Proprietary and contract manufacturing, gross profit margin improvement, growth in operating profit margin, growth in adjusted diluted earnings per share and growth in operating and free cash flow, our sales and earnings per share projections for 2020 and performance are in line with our long-term construct of approximately 6% to 8% organic sales growth and earnings per share expansion.


We remain on track to deliver on our commitment to launching 45 new products this year.
Please turn to Page 4.
We booked orders of $193 million with the book-to-bill ratio slightly over 1.0, and a backlog build of $7 million.
Sales came in at $186 million, down 14% organically, largely driven by industrial.
The adjusted operating margin was 8.5% down 210-basis-points from last year.
Despite lower revenue, we managed companywide detrimental to 22%, due to the aggressive cost and price actions we implemented earlier this year.
In Q2, Industrial segment orders were down 16% organically, due to COVID-19 impact on most industrial-end markets.
The Industrial segment had sales of $124 million, down 19% organically.
Our EOM margin was 10% representing a decline of 350-basis-points versus the prior year.
The cost actions they've initiated at the end of 2019, coupled with further action stated the pandemic resulted in a drop-through 27% which is significantly lower than our contribution margin.
In Q2 in the Aerospace & Defense segment, we delivered orders of $77 million, down 18% organically, due to a difficult comparison.
Last year, we received a large Joint Strike Fighter order for $17 million.
While this year, we had the impact of COVID-19 on commercial Aerospace, although partially offset by the Virginia Class Submarine order for $9 million.
Aerospace & Defense had sales of $62 million, down 3% organically, due to COVID-19 impact on commercial Aerospace, and ongoing 737MAX delays.
The Aerospace & Defense operating margin was 21.1% up 500-basis-points.
The $2 million of lower revenue in the Aerospace & Defense team delivered $3 million of incremental operating income, driven by pricing, productivity, and cost actions.
For Q2, the adjusted tax rate was 14.8%, due to foreign tax-rate differential, and higher R&D tax credits.
Looking at special items and restructuring charges, we recorded a total pre-tax charge of $17 million in the quarter.
The acquisition-related amortization & depreciation was a charge of $12 million.
Wanting professional fees were a charge of $4.6 million, attributable to last year's unsolicited tender offer, corporate governance actions, and other proxy related matters.
Interest expense for the quarter was $8 million, down $5 million, compared to the prior year.
Other income was at $2 million charge in the quarter primarily, due to foreign exchange losses, partially offset by pension income.
Corporate costs in the quarter were $9.7 million, higher than normal, primarily driven by a write-off of $1.8 million against a written asset from a previously divested business.
For Q3 and Q4, we expect the corporate cost run rate to be approximately $7 million per quarter.
Our free cash flow from operations was negative $28 million in the second quarter, which is in line with the guidance provided during our first-quarter earnings call.
During the quarter, we disposed of our Distributor Valves business for a negative $8.25 million in cash.
The company also incurred approximately $10 million of cash disbursements associated with, last year's unsolicited tender offer to acquire the company, support for corporate governance changes, restructuring, investment, banking fees, and other professional services.
At the end of the second quarter, our net debt was $467 million, which was $205 million dollars lower than Q2, 2019.
Please turn to Page 9.
Looking at today's portfolio, approximately 46% of our revenue is General Industrial, 27% is Aerospace & Defense with defense approximately twice the size of commercial, and 27% as aftermarket sales and support.
Our Commercial business represents 8% of revenue, and less than half of it is driven by Boeing and Airbus commercial aircraft platforms.
Outside of downstream, Oil & Gas which represents 10% of revenue, no end-market represents more than 6% of revenue.
Orders overall in Q2 were down 16% organically.
For market orders were down 23%, impacted by an overall slowdown in global manufacturing, as well as large project delays linked to the global reduction in capex.
Aftermarket orders were down 8% organically in Q2.
We expect the impact of COVID-19 to drive a year-over-year decline in revenue of 18% to 28%.
Our Aerospace & Defense segment delivered orders of $77 million in the quarter, driven by ongoing strength in Defense programs like the Joint Strike Fighter.
the US Naval Virginia Class Submarine, the CVN-80 aircraft carrier, and various missile programs.
For Aerospace & Defense and aggregate, we expect revenue to be up sequentially in Q3, but down 3% to 5% versus last year.
Commercial revenue is expected to be down approximately 30% to 40% versus last year, while the defense should be up 12% to 17%.
With carryover pricing from 2019, and new increases this year, we expect to net a 4% price increase in Q3.
Notably, we've increased our commitment to new products launched in 2020 to 45, up from 40 in the original plan.

We remain on track to deliver on our commitment to launching 45 new products this year.
We booked orders of $193 million with the book-to-bill ratio slightly over 1.0, and a backlog build of $7 million.
Sales came in at $186 million, down 14% organically, largely driven by industrial.
Notably, we've increased our commitment to new products launched in 2020 to 45, up from 40 in the original plan.


We are encouraged by a greater macro outlook over the past 90 days as vaccination rollout continues and an improving retail environment, as evidenced by the Consumer Confidence Index in late April, reaching its highest level since the onset of the pandemic.
Consolidated portfolio occupancy was 91.7% at the end of the quarter, up only 20 basis points from the end of 2020.
This reflects the anticipated 61,000 square feet of space recaptured during the quarter related to bankruptcies and brandwide restructurings.
Blended average rental rates decreased 2.8% on a straight-line basis and 8.5% on a cash basis for all renewals and retenanted leases that commenced during the trailing 12 months ended March 31, 2021.
However, this reflects a 300 basis-point improvement on a cash basis, a 390 basis-point improvement on a straight-line basis compared to our reported Q4 2020 spreads.
Collections of contractual fixed rents billed in the first quarter of 2021 were approximately 95%.
Through April 30, 2021, we collected 96% of the deferred 2020 rents due to be repaid in the first quarter and had collected 83% of all deferred 2020 rents, leaving a balance of only $3.7 million.
For the first quarter, domestic traffic returned to 97% of the 2019 level even as February traffic was impacted by severe winter weather, and we were still operating at 20% fewer hours.
The trailing 12 months, 280 leases commenced, totaling over 1.4 million square feet.
Renewals executed or in process as of March 31 represented 52% of the space scheduled to expire during the year compared to 63% at the same time last year.
Our partnership with Fillogic, the logistics-as-a-service platform in Deer Park, has provided for 5,000 square feet of a micro distribution hub aimed at providing lower cost and efficient distribution solutions for our retailers and shoppers.
This tenancy represented approximately 8.6% of our consolidated portfolio total GLA as of March 31, 2021.
also provided a significant contribution to the Other Revenues line in the first quarter of 2021, driving a 14% increase year-over-year.
First quarter core FFO available to common shareholders was $0.40 per share compared to $0.50 per share in the first quarter of 2020.
Core FFO for the first quarter of 2021 excludes general and administrative expense of $2.4 million, or $0.02 per share for compensation costs related to a voluntary retirement plan and other executive severance costs.
Same-center NOI for the consolidated portfolio decreased 8% for the quarter.
This reflects the rent modifications and store closings from recent bankruptcies and brandwide restructurings, partially offset by the reversal of approximately $1.6 million in reserves related to rents previously deferred or under negotiation.
Collections of contractual fixed rents billed in the first quarter of 2021 were approximately 95%.
As of March 31, 2021, remaining rental revenue reserves for 2020 rents deferred or under negotiation totaled $2.6 million.
During the first quarter, we issued 6.9 million common shares that generated $128.7 million in net proceeds at a weighted average price of $19.02 per share.
We used the proceeds to reduce $25 million of borrowings under our $350 million unsecured term loan on March 11, 2021; and, on April 30, completed the partial early redemption of $150 million aggregate principal amount of our 3.875% senior notes due December 2023 for $163 million in cash.
Subsequent to the redemption, $100 million remains outstanding.
As previously disclosed, we expect to take a charge in the second quarter of 2021 currently estimated to be approximately $14.1 million, or $0.14 per share, including an approximately $13 million make-whole premium to be paid for the early redemption of the notes and $1.1 million in unamortized debt discount and loan costs.
We expect the 2021 net dilutive impact per share to be approximately $0.12 for net income, $0.18 for FFO, and $0.04 for core FFO.
As mentioned on our fourth quarter earnings call, we expect store closures during 2021 related to bankruptcies and brandwide restructurings to total approximately 200,000 square feet during 2021, including the 61,000 square feet we recaptured during the first quarter.
Additionally, our guidance assumes there are no further domestic government-mandated shutdowns and assumed lease termination fees decrease by $9 million to $10 million, or $0.09 to $0.10 per share from the elevated level we recognized in 2020.
Based on our current outlook, we continue to expect core FFO per share for 2021 to be between $1.47 and $1.57.
We are maintaining this guidance despite the $0.04 dilutive impact previously discussed.

First quarter core FFO available to common shareholders was $0.40 per share compared to $0.50 per share in the first quarter of 2020.
Based on our current outlook, we continue to expect core FFO per share for 2021 to be between $1.47 and $1.57.


First-quarter funds from operation was $934 million or $2.48 per share.
FFO increased approximately $150 million or $0.31 per share compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.
And in fact, the quarter was negatively impacted by approximately $0.08 per share compared to our expectations given the closures that have occurred internationally.
We also recorded additional COVID impacts in the first quarter of approximately $0.07 per share from -- based upon basically domestic rent abatements and uncollectible rents.
We generated $875 million in cash from operations in the quarter, which was an increase of 18% compared to the prior-year period.
We collected over 95% of our net billed rents for the first quarter and our in-line tenant collections are back to pre-COVID levels in the approximate 98% range.
Our operating metrics in the period were as follows: mall and outlet occupancy at the end of the first quarter was 90.8%, down 50 basis points compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.
This 50-basis-point decline for the quarter is approximately 75% -- 75 basis points less than the average historical seasonal decline from the fourth quarter to the first quarter.
Average base rents was $56.07, up 60 basis points year over year.
Leasing spreads declined for the 12 -- trailing 12 months, primarily due to the mix of deals that have fallen out, the spread calculation that have resulted in an increase to the average closing rate by approximately $8 per square foot for the trailing 12 months.
Pricing continues to improve with the average opening rate per square foot for the trailing 12 months of approximately $60 per foot.
And as you can see in the lease expiration schedule included in our supplemental, our expiring rents for the next few years are less than $60 per square foot.
We signed 1,100 leases for approximately 4.4 million square feet, and we have significant number of leases in our pipeline, our leasing volume in both number of leases in square feet was greater than the volume in each of the first quarter of 2020 and 2019.
Our global brands within SPARC outperformed their plans in March and April on both sales and gross margin, led by Forever 21 and Aéropostale.
For the two months combined, SPARC outperformed the sales plan by more than $135 million and our gross margin plan by more than $75 million.
Our company's liquidity position at Penney is strong at $1.2 billion, and balance sheet is in very good shape with leverage of less than 1.2 times net debt to projected EBITDA.
We completed $1.5 billion senior note offering at 1.96%, weighted average term of 8.4 years.
We also completed a EUR 750 million note, shouldn't say dollar, at one and one-eighths percent coupon at a term of 12 years.
We used those proceeds to completely repay the $2 billion unsecured term facility associated with the Taubman deal, as well as pay off our $550 million senior notes.
We've also refinanced six mortgages for $1.3 billion, our share of which is $589 million at an average interest rate of 3.36%.
And at the end of the quarter, with all this activity, we have $8.4 billion of liquidity, consisting of $6.9 billion available on our credit facility; $1.5 billion of cash, including our share of JV cash.
And reminder, that is net of $500 million of U.S. commercial paper outstanding at quarter end.
We paid $1.30 per share in cash, in terms of our dividend on April 23.
And then, finally, as you've seen, given our first-quarter results, we are increasing our full-year 2021 FFO guidance from $9.50 to $9.75 per share to $9.70 to $9.80 per.
This is an increase of $0.20 per share at the bottom end of the range and $0.05 at the top end of the range or a 13% -- or a $0.13 increase at midpoint and that represents a 6.5% to 7.6% growth rate compared to our 2020 results.

First-quarter funds from operation was $934 million or $2.48 per share.
Our operating metrics in the period were as follows: mall and outlet occupancy at the end of the first quarter was 90.8%, down 50 basis points compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.
We paid $1.30 per share in cash, in terms of our dividend on April 23.
And then, finally, as you've seen, given our first-quarter results, we are increasing our full-year 2021 FFO guidance from $9.50 to $9.75 per share to $9.70 to $9.80 per.


While our second quarter financial results were down compared to prior year, we delivered a profitable quarter despite 23% decline in our top line sales and funded investments to enable our transformation.
I am pleased to report that during the second quarter Sysco gained overall market share versus the rest of the industry, reflecting the early progress of our transformation and the success we're having in winning new business, We continue to win meaningful business in the national account space and signed an incremental $200 million of net new business in the quarter, which totals more than $1.5 billion of net new contracted business since the start of the pandemic.
I'm proud to report that our Net Promoter Score increased by more than 1,000 basis points in the quarter due in large part to the connections with our customers generated by the Restaurants Rising program.
Importantly, as you can see on page seven in our slides, the incremental closure rate of Sysco's customers is 50% below the industry average.
Notably, we are now onboarding new customers in less than 24 hours, a step change improvement.
The average tenure of our market and regional leaders is over 20 years and these experienced and talented leaders are highly capable of driving top performance within Sysco.
Aaron is a proven finance leader with over 20 years of experience in foodservice and retail leadership positions.
Greg Bertrand, the leader of our U.S. business has over 35 years of industry experience and 30 years specific with Sysco.
Second quarter sales were $11.6 billion, a decrease of 23.1% from the prior year, but flat to the prior quarter.
For the quarter, local case volume within U.S. Broadline operations decreased 19.7% while total case volume within U.S. Broadline operations decreased 23.7%.
As we move down the P&L, gross profit decreased 25.8% to $2.1 billion in the second quarter.
However, we did see a modest gross margin dilution at the enterprise level of roughly 67 basis points as our rate came in at 18.2%.
Our expense profile changed over the course of our second quarter as adjusted operating expense decreased 15.3% to $1.9 billion.
This expense profile reflects a deleverage of our cost structure as sales remained down 23%.
Second, we continue to make excellent progress against our $350 million of cost savings initiatives in fiscal 2021.
Finally, at the enterprise level, adjusted operating income decreased 63% to $234 million.
For the second quarter, our non-GAAP tax rate of 16.8% was favorably driven by the impact of stock option exercises.
Adjusted earnings per share decreased 80% to $0.17 for the quarter.
Sales were $8 billion, which was a decrease of 23.9% versus the prior-year period.
Within the business, Sysco brand sales for the second quarter decreased 165 basis points to 36.5% for total U.S. cases, driven by the customer and product mix shift.
With respect to local US cases, Sysco brand sales decreased 455 basis points to 42%, which was driven by product mix shift in the pre-packaged and takeaway ready products.
Gross profit decreased 24% to $1.6 billion for the quarter, while as I called out earlier, gross margin was flat for the quarter at 19.7% as the business very successfully managed through the puts and takes of the COVID environment and addressed headwinds such as aged inventory for customers like cruise lines and product mix shift out of higher margin categories like PP&E.
The segment's adjusted operating expenses decreased 18.9% to $1.1 billion and adjusted operating income decreased 33% to $472 million.
Sales increased 4% to $1.5 billion compared to the prior-year period, driven by the success of national and regional quick service restaurant servicing drive-through traffic.
Gross profit increased 4.1% to $129 million for the quarter and gross margin was flat to the prior-year.
Adjusted operating expenses increased 4%, $118 million and adjusted operating income increased 5% to $11 million.
Moving to the International segment, our European, Canadian and Latin American businesses have been substantially impacted by recent shutdowns, which are more aggressive than lockdowns in the U.S. The International Foodservice operation segment saw sales of $2 billion, a decrease of 32% while gross profit decreased 36.2% and gross margin decreased 128 basis points.
For the International segment, adjusted operating expenses decreased 16% and adjusted operating income decreased 175% for an operating loss of $55 million.
Cash flow from operations was $937 million for the first half of fiscal 2021.
Free cash flow was $788 million year-to-date, which is in line with our previously noted guidance.
Net capex for the first half of fiscal 2021 was $148 million, which was $235 million lower than last year as the company carefully assessed its capital investment choices in the face of COVID.
At quarter end, we had balance sheet cash of $5.8 billion, plus access to $2 billion of available borrowing capacity for a total of $7.8 billion.

Second quarter sales were $11.6 billion, a decrease of 23.1% from the prior year, but flat to the prior quarter.
Adjusted earnings per share decreased 80% to $0.17 for the quarter.


During the quarter, these asset classes have continued to perform well and led our third quarter performance, enabling us to deliver $0.75 of normalized FFO per share.
Two recent examples of the benefit of our diversified strategy include our investment in a $1 billion Class A Trophy Life Science Portfolio located in the Premier South San Francisco Life Science Cluster at a forward cap rate of 5% on cash NOI.
Spurred by record capital flows into the life science sector, this market has less than 2% lab vacancy, unparalleled access to a large concentration of life science firms and an extensive venture capital network going after the world class talent pool.
We also recently recommenced construction on a 400,000 square foot state-of-the-art Life Sciences project known as One UCity in this thriving research sub market of Philadelphia, bookended by 10 and Drexel.
This project is designed to be LEED certified and total estimated project costs are over $280 million.
Similarly, we've invested on a geographically diversified basis with over 30% of our shop portfolio now in Canada.
We are also investing nearly $420 million in ground up development of new consumer focused senior living communities, which are well under way.
We already have over $3 billion in assets under management in our institutional third-party capital management platform.
These forms include our successful open-end funds, launched in March of this year, that has already grown to nearly $2 billion and 2 million square feet in assets under management.
Following the South San Francisco Life Sciences portfolio closing, when we raised over 600 million of discretionary new equity, our fund exceeds $1 billion in equity capital, and continues to have additional committed capital to accommodate new investments.
This joint venture covers four research and innovation development projects currently in progress with approximately 930 million in estimated project costs.
Our joint venture with GIC may be expanded to over $2 billion with other pre-identified future R&I development projects currently in our pipeline if they go forward.
While we are sober and clear eyed about the recent increase in COVID-19 cases nationally, to a record level of nearly 120,000 confirmed cases today, we believe in the strength of the senior living business as we look toward the post-pandemic environment.
Our 395 assets sequential same-store pool comprising over 90% of our shop NOI, posted cash NOI of 109 million which is effectively flat versus the second quarter.
Average occupancy was 130 basis points lower sequentially with improving trends inter quarter while RevPOR declined 30 basis points and grew 50 basis points in our U.S. and Canadian operating portfolios respectively.
In September leads and move-ins were 85% and 94%, respectively, as compared to the prior year.
Third quarter revenue declined 3.6% which was offset entirely by 4.5%, lower operating expenses sequentially, primarily driven by lower COVID related expenses.
As with last quarter, I'll highlight our Canadian portfolio, which represents 33% of our shop portfolio and demonstrates the benefits of our diversification and a well-orchestrated public health response.
The 72 communities within our sequential Q3 same-store pool, including our LGM investment was 93.2% occupied, which compares to an average of 93.7% for the second quarter, outperform in the U.S. on an absolute and relative basis.
Same-store cash NOI on a sequential basis grew in Canada by over 10%.
As a result of our proactive steps to improve coverage through mutually beneficial arrangements with Capital Senior, Holiday, Brookdale and other smaller tenants, our trailing 12 months cash flow coverage for senior housing is 1.4x.
Currently, 96% of our communities are accepting move-ins.
As a result of the diligent efforts of our operators executing, testing and preventative protocols new resident COVID-19 cases more than 75% better than the peak seen in April, in spite of broader market trends of increased new infection rates among the U.S. general public.
Our office segment which now represents over 30% of Ventas' NOI continues to produce strong results and show its value proposition and financial strength and missed the pandemic.
The Office portfolio continued to provide steady growth delivering 126 million of same-store cash NOI in the third quarter.
This represents a 40 basis points of sequential growth.
You will note that the same-store cash NOI declined 2.2% year-on-year for the third quarter.
However, we lapped a large $4.7 million termination fee in the third quarter of 2019.
The same-store cash NOI grew 1.5% from the prior year normalizing for the paid parking shortfall and increased cleaning costs due to COVID, same-store cash NOI grew by 2.8%.
In terms of rent receipts, office tenants paid an industry leading 99% of contractual rents in the third quarter in line with the second quarter.
As of November 6, our tenants have paid more than 99% of October contractual rents.
Receiving 99% of total rent without D docs is a direct reflection of the quality of our tenants and the quality of our buildings.
Remember 88% of MOB NOI is from investment grade tenants or HCA and 97% of our MOB NOI comes from tenants affiliated with major health systems, including some of the nation's most prestigious, not-fort-profit health systems.
As an example, we estimate that our top 10 Health System tenants have collectively received nearly 5 billion in CARES Act relief and 10 billion in Medicare advanced payments.
For our R&I portfolio 76% of our revenues are received from investment grade organizations and publicly listed companies a very solid foundation.
Third quarter 2020 office occupancy for the same-store portfolio was 91.1%, a sequential decline of 40 basis points due to several small tenants not reopening post COVID.
Lab space continues to be in high demand and the R&I portfolio is now 97% leased an outstanding result.
Medical office had a record level retention at 90% for the third quarter of 2020 and for the trailing 12 months.
Driven by this retention total office leasing was 1.2 million square feet for the quarter and 2.7 million square feet year to-date.
This is 400,000 square feet higher than our third quarter of 2019 leasing and 300,000 square feet higher than the third quarter 2019 year-to-date leasing.
As an example, paid parking is more than doubled from the depths of COVID but as recovered to 65% to 70% of pre-COVID levels, climbing but still below historical levels.
This gives us confidence that our occupancy will soon build from the current state which is already 96% leased.
During the third quarter, our healthcare triple-net assets showed continued strength and resilience as evidenced by receiving 100% of third quarter, October and November from our total healthcare tenants.
Further trailing 12 months EBITDARM cash flow coverage for the second quarter of '20, related to the available information improved sequentially for all of our healthcare triple-net asset classes despite COVID-19.
Acute care hospitals trailing 12-month coverage was a strong 3.1x in the second quarter.
Nationally hospital inpatient admissions and surgeries continue to rebound in Q3 and third quarter admissions approached over 90% of prior year levels.
Arden continues to perform extremely well despite the challenging market conditions and is benefiting from over 90% of its hospitals residing in jurisdictions that are open for elective procedures.
Herbs and health tax coverage improved 20 basis points to 1.5x in Q2 on the heels of government funding and significantly improved census.
Turning to our third quarter financial performance, and let me start with Q3 GAAP net income, which includes $0.06 in non-cash charges as a result of COVID impacts.
These tenants are now on a cash basis and represent approximately 50 million of annual cash rent, notwithstanding the write-offs, all these tenants are current, and we will endeavor to collect all our contractual rents going forward.
We provided additional information in our supplemental on page 34.
In terms of normalized FFO per share, we delivered $0.75 in Q3 2020 versus $0.77 in the second quarter.
Shop and office NOI were stable sequentially, with the $0.02 reduction in FFO in the third quarter, as compared to the second described by the Brookdale rent reset in the third quarter.
These included reducing our corporate cost structure by 25%, resulting in 30 million in annualized SG&A savings in Q3.
We are also active in managing our balance sheet and liquidity, including paying down substantially all borrowings under our revolving credit facility, successfully tendering for 236 million of near-term bonds and issuing under our ATM to help fund the South San Francisco investments.
Our liquidity is strong at 3.2 billion between available revolver capacity and cash on hand as of November 5.
We have limited near-term debt maturities, access to diversified capital sources, strong fixed charge coverage and debt to gross asset value just 37%.

During the quarter, these asset classes have continued to perform well and led our third quarter performance, enabling us to deliver $0.75 of normalized FFO per share.
In terms of normalized FFO per share, we delivered $0.75 in Q3 2020 versus $0.77 in the second quarter.


Revenue was up 47% and our diluted and adjusted diluted earnings per share were $1.38 and $1.53, respectively.
And our adjusted EBITDA margin was 21.1%.
Elements of our strategy will include driving a top-down go-to-market strategy, through our Marquee and Regional Accounts, which represent about 36% of our portfolio and that not only facilitates growth and enduring partnerships, but is also key to more scalable and durable revenues.
For example, in the quarter, about 30% of our revenue was driven by cross referrals within our firm, demonstrating the effectiveness of our go-to-market strategy.
Although our search businesses, both Pro Search and Executive Search combined represent about 45% of our revenue, we believe there is still substantial market opportunity ahead, given the acceleration of an increasingly nomadic labor market.
We're going to also scale our learning development outsourcing or LDO capabilities, leveraging our Korn Ferry Advance platform, in which we now have completed 50,000 development and coaching sessions.
I would also say that this is not our 15 minutes of fame.
So as Gary mentioned, fee revenue in the second quarter grew $204 million or 47% year-over-year and $54 million or 9% sequentially, reaching an all-time high of $639 million.
Fee revenue growth in the quarter for our consolidated Executive Search business was up 59% year-over-year and up 9% sequentially while our RPO and Professional Search business was up 76% year-over-year and 8% sequentially.
Consulting grew 30% year-over-year and 11% sequentially, while Digital was up 18% year-over-year and 10% sequentially.
Our adjusted EBITDA grew $69 million year-over-year and $13.5 million or 11% sequentially to $135 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 21.1%, both are new quarterly highs.
Adjusted fully diluted earnings per share also advanced to a new high in the quarter, improving to a $1.53, which was up $0.99 compared to adjusted fully diluted earnings per share in the second quarter of fiscal '21 and actually up $0.16 or 12% sequentially.
Our firm's fee revenue for the fiscal year '22 Q2 year-to-date period is up 25% with double-digit growth in every line of business.
Our adjusted EBITDA over the same comparison period is up 67%, that's nearly 3 times greater than fee revenue growth and our adjusted EBITDA margin is up 530 basis points to nearly 21%.
On a consolidated basis, new business awards, excluding RPO, were up 40% year-over-year and up approximately 8% sequentially.
RPO new business was also extremely strong with a record $136 million of total contract awards.
At October 31, the end of the second quarter, cash and marketable securities totaled $997 million.
Now, when you exclude amounts reserved for deferred compensation arrangements and accrued bonuses, our global investable cash balance at the end of the second quarter was approximately $591 million and that's up about $133 million or 29% year-over-year.
It should be noted that this investable cash position includes approximately $90 million that was used to acquire the Lucas Group on November 1.
In addition to the Lucas Group and investing in the hiring of additional fee earners and execution staff, year-to-date, we've repurchased approximately $14 million of our stock and have paid cash dividends of approximately $14 million as well.
Global fee revenue for KF Digital was $88.6 million in the second quarter, which was up 18% year-over-year and up 10% sequentially.
The subscription and licensing component of KF Digital fee revenue grew to $26 million in the second quarter, which was up 16% year-over-year and up 7% sequentially.
Additionally, global new business for KF Digital in the second quarter grew 29% year-over-year to a new high of $114 million with $44 million or 39% related to subscription and license services.
Earnings and profitability also continued to grow for KF Digital in the second quarter with adjusted EBITDA of $28.6 million and a 32.2% adjusted EBITDA margin.
In the second quarter, Consulting generated $164.9 million of fee revenue, which was up approximately $38 million or 30% year-over-year and $16 million or 11% sequentially.
Fee revenue growth continued to be broad-based across all solution areas and strongest regionally in North America, which was up over 43% year-over-year.
Consulting new business also reached a record high in the second quarter, growing approximately 17% year-over-year and 2% sequentially.
Adjusted EBITDA for Consulting in the second quarter improved to $30.1 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 18.2%.
Globally, fee revenues grew $150.4 million, which was up 76% year-over-year and up approximately $11 million or 8% sequentially.
RPO fee revenue grew approximately 69% year-over-year and 10% sequentially, while Professional Search fee revenue was up approximately 88% year-over-year and 5% sequentially.
Professional Search new business was up 13% sequentially and RPO was awarded a record $136 million of new contracts, consisting of $28 million of renewals and extensions and $108 million of new logo work.
Adjusted EBITDA for RPO and Professional Search continued to scale with revenue improving to $36.3 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 24.1%.
Finally, in the second quarter, global fee revenue for Executive Search reached another new all-time high of $235 million, which was up 59% year-over-year and up 9% sequentially.
Growth was also broad-based and led by North America, which grew 74% year-over-year and over 14% sequentially.
EMEA and APAC were up approximately 34% and 36%, respectively, measured year-over-year, and essentially flat sequentially.
The total number of dedicated Executive Search consultants worldwide at the end of the second quarter was 570, up 58% year-over-year and up 5%, sequentially.
Annualized fee revenue production per consultant in the second quarter improved to a record $1.66 million and the number of new search assignments opened worldwide in the second quarter was up 37% year-over-year and 5% sequentially to a new all-time high of 1,830.
In the second quarter, global Executive Search adjusted EBITDA grew to approximately $66 million, which was up $38 million year-over-year and up $4.5 million or 7% sequentially.
Adjusted EBITDA margin in the second quarter was 28.1%.
However, November was also an excellent month for new business, actually eclipsing September as the second highest month ever, and that was up 37% year-over-year.
Now assuming no new major pandemic-related lockdowns or changes in worldwide economic conditions, financial markets, and foreign exchange rates, and including fee from the Lucas Group, we expect our consolidated fee revenue in the third quarter of fiscal '22 to range from $640 million to $660 million and our consolidated adjusted diluted earnings per share to range from $1.42 to $1.58 while our GAAP diluted earnings per share should range from $1.38 to $1.56.

Revenue was up 47% and our diluted and adjusted diluted earnings per share were $1.38 and $1.53, respectively.
So as Gary mentioned, fee revenue in the second quarter grew $204 million or 47% year-over-year and $54 million or 9% sequentially, reaching an all-time high of $639 million.
Adjusted fully diluted earnings per share also advanced to a new high in the quarter, improving to a $1.53, which was up $0.99 compared to adjusted fully diluted earnings per share in the second quarter of fiscal '21 and actually up $0.16 or 12% sequentially.
Now assuming no new major pandemic-related lockdowns or changes in worldwide economic conditions, financial markets, and foreign exchange rates, and including fee from the Lucas Group, we expect our consolidated fee revenue in the third quarter of fiscal '22 to range from $640 million to $660 million and our consolidated adjusted diluted earnings per share to range from $1.42 to $1.58 while our GAAP diluted earnings per share should range from $1.38 to $1.56.


With our primary raw material costs up more than 40% on average versus a year ago, our consumer group will need to catch up with significant selling price increases, which will be instituted at the end of this month.
During the third quarter, we generated consolidated net sales of $1.43 billion, an increase of 13%, compared to the $1.27 billion reported during the same quarter of fiscal 2021.
Organic sales growth was 13.4% or $170.1 million.
Acquisitions contributed 1.4% to sales or $17.8 million, while foreign exchange was a headwind that decreased sales by 1.8% or $23.4 million.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share were $0.38, which was unchanged compared to the year-ago quarter.
Our consolidated adjusted EBIT was up 0.8% to a record $80.6 million, compared to the $79.9 million recorded in the fiscal 2021 third quarter.
Combined sales in these three segments increased 19% while sales in the Consumer segment were up modestly.
Again, after removing Consumer, the remainder of RPM produced exceptional adjusted EBIT growth of 97%.
Our construction products group generated third quarter record net sales of $482 million, up 21.7% compared to the fiscal 2021 third quarter.
Organic sales growth was 23.2% and acquisitions contributed 2.2%.
Foreign currency translation headwinds reduced sales by 3.7%.
CPG fiscal 2022 third quarter adjusted EBIT increased 89.7% to a record $35.1 million.
Our performance coatings group's fiscal 2022 third quarter net sales were a record $270.9 million, an increase of 19.6% over the year-ago period.
Organic sales increased 17.8% and acquisitions contributed 3.4%, which were partially offset by foreign currency translation headwind of 1.6%.
Adjusted EBIT increased 89.9% to a record $26.8 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2022.
Specialty products group reported record net sales of $189.4 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2022, an increase of 11.9% compared to the fiscal 2021 third quarter.
Organic sales increased 11.9% and acquisitions added 0.8%, which were offset by unfavorable foreign currency translation of 0.8%.
Adjusted EBIT was a record $26.6 million in fiscal 2022 third quarter, an increase of 5.4%, compared to adjusted EBIT of $25.3 million in the last year's quarter.
Our consumer group achieved record net sales of $491.6 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2022, an increase of 2.9% compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2021.
Organic sales increased 3.6%, which was partially offset by unfavorable foreign currency translation of 0.7%.
Speaking of challenges, the consumer group also faced a difficult comparison to the prior-year period when sales increased 19.8% and adjusted EBIT increased 48.6% due to elevated demand for its home improvement products during the pandemic's first phase.
Fiscal 2022 third quarter adjusted EBIT was $17.2 million, a decrease of 63.9%, compared to adjusted EBIT of $47.8 million reported during the prior-year period.
Helping to keep our liquidity strong is a $300 million bond offering we completed in January.
Also during the third quarter, we repurchased $15 million of our common stock.
For the fiscal 2022 fourth quarter, our operations and those of our suppliers are expected to be impacted by ongoing supply chain challenges and raw material shortages, which will exert pressure on revenues and productivity.
Despite these challenges, we expect to generate fiscal 2022 fourth quarter consolidated sales growth in the low teens versus a difficult comparison to last year's fourth quarter sales, which grew 19.6%.
We anticipate that consolidated adjusted EBIT for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 will increase in the low teens versus the same period last year when adjusted EBIT was up 10.6%.

During the third quarter, we generated consolidated net sales of $1.43 billion, an increase of 13%, compared to the $1.27 billion reported during the same quarter of fiscal 2021.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share were $0.38, which was unchanged compared to the year-ago quarter.
For the fiscal 2022 fourth quarter, our operations and those of our suppliers are expected to be impacted by ongoing supply chain challenges and raw material shortages, which will exert pressure on revenues and productivity.
Despite these challenges, we expect to generate fiscal 2022 fourth quarter consolidated sales growth in the low teens versus a difficult comparison to last year's fourth quarter sales, which grew 19.6%.


Before we begin, let me remind you that the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 apply to this conference call.
Our third and fourth quarter 2020 admissions increased 4.7% and 2.8% respectively.
However, despite the admissions growth, our average daily census declined 2.8% in the fourth quarter.
Senior housing is an important referral network for the hospice industry, given the fact that over 90% of all half of those patients are over the age of 65.
Hospice referred admissions typically account for 50% of VITAS' total admissions and a significant portion of these referrals have very short length of stays.
This is reflected in hospital generated admissions increasing 6.2% and 7.4% in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.
Nursing home hospice patients represented 14.7% of our fourth quarter 2020 census, a decline of 310 basis points when compared to the prior year.
VITAS nursing home admissions decreased 22.6% in the third quarter of 2020 and declined 19.3% in the fourth quarter when compared to the equivalent prior year quarter.
Nursing home base patients are -- referred to hospice earlier into a terminal prognosis and statistically have a much greater probability of being in hospice more than 90 days.
Median length of stay in the fourth quarter of 2020 was 14 days, two days less than the prior year.
This unusual decline in median length of stay is a result of a 7.4% increase in hospital referred admissions and a 19.3% decrease in nursing home admissions.
Unit-by-unit residential revenue totaled $123 million in the quarter, an increase of 20.8% when compared to the prior-year quarter.
Fourth quarter 2020 unit-for-unit branch commercial demand did decline to 9.8% when compared with the fourth quarter of 2019.
This is a significant improvement when compared to the second quarter of 2020, which had commercial demand declining 29.1% and in the third quarter of 2020 with a commercial revenue decline of 11.6% when compared to the prior year.
Roto-Rooter generated fourth quarter 2020 revenue of $201 million, an increase of 10.2%.
VITAS' net revenue was $332 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, which is a decline of 2.3% when compared to the prior year period.
This revenue variance is comprised primarily of a 2.8% decline in days-of-care, a geographically weighted average Medicare reimbursement rate increase of approximately 2.4% and acuity mix shift, which then reduced the blended average Medicare rate increase approximately 255 basis points.
The combination of a lower Medicare Cap and a decrease in Medicaid net room and board pass-through increased revenue growth an additional 64 basis points in the quarter.
Our average revenue per patient per day in the fourth quarter of 2020 was $198.33, which including acuity mix shift is a 7 -- is 7 basis points below the prior-year period.
Reimbursement for routine homecare and high acuity care averaged $169.83 and $997.37, respectively.
During the quarter, high acuity days-of-care were 3.4% of our total days-of-care, which is 62 basis points less than the prior-year quarter.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, VITAS accrued $2.5 million in Medicare Cap billing limitations.
This compares to a $4.5 million Medicare Cap billing limitation in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Of VITAS' 30 Medicare provider numbers, 23 of these provider numbers currently have a Medicare Cap cushion of 10% or greater.
Four provider numbers have a cap cushion between 5% and 10%, one provider number has a cap cushion between 0 and 5%, and two of our provider numbers currently have a fiscal 2021 Medicare Cap billing limitation liability.
VITAS' fourth-quarter 2020 adjusted EBITDA, excluding Medicare Cap, totaled $78.7 million, which is an increase of 11.7%.
VITAS adjusted EBITDA margin, excluding Medicare Cap was 23.5% in the quarter, which is a 306 basis point improvement when compared to the prior-year period.
For Roto-Rooter, Roto-Rooter generated quarterly revenue of $201 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of $18.7 million or 10.2% over the prior-year quarter.
On a unit-for-unit basis, which excludes the Oakland and HSW acquisitions, completed in July of 2019 and in September of 2019, respectively, Roto-Rooter generated quarterly revenue of $183 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, which is an increase of 12.8% over the prior-year quarter.
Total branch commercial revenue in the quarter, excluding acquisitions, decreased 9.8%.
This aggregate commercial revenue decline consisted of drain cleaning revenue declining 11.6%, commercial plumbing and excavation declining 8.9%, and commercial water restoration increasing 1%.
Total branch residential revenue, excluding acquisitions increased 20.8% and this aggregate residential revenue growth consisted of residential drain cleaning increasing 17.1%, residential plumbing and excavation expanding 25.5% and our residential water restoration increasing 16.8%.
Statistically, our VITAS patients residing in senior housing are identified as hospice-appropriate earlier into their terminal prognosis and at a much greater probability of having a length of stay in excess of 90 days.
Hospice patients referred from hospitals, oncology practices and similar quarter referral sources are generally more acute and they have a significantly lower probability of length of stays 60 to 90 days.
Nursing home patients represented 14.7% of the VITAS fourth quarter 2020 patient census, which is our 310 basis point reduction when compared to the prior-year quarter.
VITAS anticipates continued weak occupancy and corresponding weak referrals from senior housing for the first half of 2021.
This guidance anticipates senior housing will begin to normalize to pre-pandemic occupancy starting in the second half of the calendar year 2021.
Based upon the above discussion, VITAS' 2021 revenue prior to Medicare Cap is estimated to decline approximately 4% when compared to the prior year.
VITAS' average daily census in 2021 is estimated to decline approximately 5% and full-year adjusted EBITDA margin prior to Medicare Cap is estimated to be 19.4%.
And we are currently estimating $10 million for Medicare Cap billing limitations in calendar year 2021.
Roto-Rooter is forecasted to achieve 2021 revenue growth of approximately 5% to 6% and Roto-Rooter's adjusted EBITDA margin for 2021 is estimated to be 26%.
Based upon this discussion, the full year 2021 adjusted earnings per diluted share excluding non-cash expense for stock options, tax benefits from stock option exercises, cost related to litigation and other discrete items is estimated to be in the range of $17 to $17.50.
This 2021 guidance assumes an effective corporate tax rate and adjusted earnings of 24.7%.
And this compares to Chemed's 2020 reported adjusted earnings per diluted shares of $18.08.
In the fourth quarter, our average daily census was 18,718 patients, a decline of 2.8% over the prior year.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, total admissions were 17,960, this is a 2.8% increase when compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
In the fourth quarter, our home-based pre-admit admissions increased 9.2%.
Hospital-directed admissions expanded 7.4%.
Nursing home admins declined 19.3% and assisted-living facility admissions declined 14.7% when compared to the prior year quarter.
Average length of stay in the quarter was 97.2 days, this compares to 95.2 days in the fourth quarter of 2019 and 97.1 days in the third quarter of 2020.
Our median length of stay was 14 days in the quarter, which is two days less than the 16-day median in the fourth quarter of 2019 and equal to the third quarter of 2020.

Roto-Rooter generated fourth quarter 2020 revenue of $201 million, an increase of 10.2%.
VITAS' net revenue was $332 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, which is a decline of 2.3% when compared to the prior year period.
For Roto-Rooter, Roto-Rooter generated quarterly revenue of $201 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of $18.7 million or 10.2% over the prior-year quarter.
VITAS anticipates continued weak occupancy and corresponding weak referrals from senior housing for the first half of 2021.
This guidance anticipates senior housing will begin to normalize to pre-pandemic occupancy starting in the second half of the calendar year 2021.
Roto-Rooter is forecasted to achieve 2021 revenue growth of approximately 5% to 6% and Roto-Rooter's adjusted EBITDA margin for 2021 is estimated to be 26%.
Based upon this discussion, the full year 2021 adjusted earnings per diluted share excluding non-cash expense for stock options, tax benefits from stock option exercises, cost related to litigation and other discrete items is estimated to be in the range of $17 to $17.50.


In the second quarter, net income was $200 million, or $1.92 per share compared to $173 million or $1.62 per share a year ago.
Net operating income for the quarter was $193 million or $1.85 per share, an increase of 12% per share from a year ago.
On a GAAP reported basis return on equity as of June 30 was 9% for the first half of the year and 9.7% for the second quarter.
Book value per share was $83.59.
Excluding unrealized gains and losses on fixed maturities, return on equity was 12.4% for the first half of the year and 13.5% for the second quarter.
In addition, book value per share grew 9% to $55.66.
In our life insurance operations, premium revenue increased 9% from the year ago quarter to $728 million.
Life underwriting margin was $179 million, up 11% from a year ago.
For the year, we expect life premium revenue to grow between 8% to 9% and underwriting margin to grow 5% to 6%.
In health insurance, premium revenue grew 4% to $296 million and health underwriting margin was up 16% to $74 million.
For the year, we expect health premium revenue to grow between 4% and 5% and underwriting margin to grow around 9%.
Administrative expenses were $68 million for the quarter, up 10% from a year ago.
As a percentage of premium, administrative expenses were 6.6% compared to 6.5% a year ago.
For the full year, we expect administrative expenses to grow 8% to 9% and be around 6.7% of premium due primarily to increased IT and information security cost, higher pension expense, and a gradual increase in travel and facility costs.
At American Income Life, life premiums were up over the year ago quarter to $348 million and life underwriting margin was up 16% to $108 million.
In the second quarter of 2021, net life sales were $73 million, up 42%.
The average producing agent count for the second quarter was 10,478, up 25% from the year ago quarter and up 6% from the first quarter.
The producing agent count at the end of the second quarter was 10,406.
At Liberty National, life premiums were up 6% over the year ago quarter to $78 million, while life underwriting margin was down 16% to $16 million.
Net life sales increased 67% to $18 million and net health sales were $6 million, up 52% from the year ago quarter due primarily to increased agent count and increased agent productivity.
The average producing agent count for the second quarter was 2,700, up 13% from the year ago quarter, while down 1% from the first quarter.
The producing agent count at Liberty National ended the quarter at 2,700.
At Family Heritage, health premiums increased 9% over the year ago quarter to $85 million and health underwriting margin increased 18% to $22 million.
Net health sales were up 41% to $19 million due to increased agent productivity.
The average producing agent count for the second quarter was 1,220, down 2% from the year ago quarter and down 5% from the first quarter.
The producing agent count at the end of the quarter was 1,171.
In our direct-to-consumer division at Global Life, the life premiums were up 6% over the year ago quarter to $249 million and life underwriting margin increased 22% to $34 million.
Net life sales were $42 million, down 14% from the year ago quarter.
While sales declined from a year ago, we are pleased with this quarter's sales activity as it was 23% higher than the second quarter of 2019.
At United American General Agency, health premiums increased 3% over the year ago quarter to $116 million and health underwriting margin increased 16% to $18 million.
Net health sales were $12 million, up 1% compared to the year ago quarter.
We expect the producing agent count for each agency at the end of 2021 to be in the following ranges: American Income Life, 3% to 6% growth; Liberty National, 1% to 8% growth; Family Heritage, a decline of 1% to 9%.
Net life sales for the full year 2021 are expected to be as follows: American Income Life, an increase of 13% to 17%; Liberty National, an increase of 26% to 32%; direct-to-consumer, a decrease of 10% to flat.
Net health sales for the full year 2021 are expected to be as follows: Liberty National, an increase of 12% to 18%; Family Heritage, an increase of 4% to 8%; United American Individual Medicare Supplement, a decrease of 1% to an increase of 9%.
Excess investment income, which we define as net investment income less required interest on net policy liabilities and debt, was $60 million, a 2% decline from the year ago quarter.
On a per share basis, reflecting the impact of our share repurchase program, excess investment income grew 2%.
For the full year, we expect excess investment income to decline 1% to 2%, but to grow around 2% on a per share basis.
In the second quarter, we invested $116 million in investment grade fixed maturities, primarily in the financial, municipal and industrial sectors.
We invested at an average yield of 3.69%, an average rating of A, and an average life of 35 years.
We also invested $72 million in limited partnerships that invest in credit instruments.
For the entire fixed maturity portfolio, the second quarter yield was 5.24%, down 14 basis points from the second quarter of 2020.
As of June 30, the portfolio yield was 5.23%.
Invested assets are $19.1 billion, including $17.5 billion of fixed maturities at amortized cost.
Of the fixed maturities, $16.7 billion are investment grade with an average rating of A- and below investment grade bonds are $764 million compared to $802 million at the end of the first quarter.
The percentage of below investment grade bonds to fixed maturities is 4.4%.
Excluding net unrealized gains in the fixed maturity portfolio, the low investment grade bonds as a percentage of equity was 13%.
Consistent with recent years, bonds rated BBB are 55% of the fixed maturity portfolio.
At the midpoint of our guidance, we are assuming an average new money rate of around 3.45% for fixed maturities for the remainder of 2021.
Fortunately, the impact of lower new money rates on our investment income is somewhat limited, as we expect to have an average turnover of less than 2% per year in our investment portfolio over the next five years.
The parent ended the second with liquid assets of approximately $545 million.
This amount is higher than last quarter, because in June, the company issued a 40-year $325 million junior subordinated note with a coupon rate of 4.15%.
Net proceeds were $317 million.
On July 15, the company utilized the proceeds to call our $300 million 6.125% junior subordinated notes due 2056.
We anticipate the parent company's excess cash flow for the full year to be approximately $365 million.
Of which, approximately $185 million will be generated in the second half of 2021.
In the second quarter, the company repurchased 1.2 million shares of Global Life Inc. common stock at a total cost of $123 million at an average share price of $101.05.
The total spend was higher than anticipated as we took advantage of the sharp drop in share price at the end of the quarter and accelerated approximately $30 million of purchases from the second half of the year to repurchase shares at an average price of $95.62.
So far in July, we have spent $32 million to repurchase 343,000 shares at an average price of $93.81.
Thus, for the full year through today, we have spent approximately $246 million to purchase 2.5 million shares at an average price of $97.96.
Taking into account the liquid assets of $545 million at the end of the second quarter, plus approximately $185 million of excess cash flows that we are expected to generate in the second half of the year, less the $32 million spent on share repurchases in July and the $300 million to call our junior subordinated note, we will have approximately $400 million of assets available to the parent for the remainder of the year.
However, at this time, the midpoint of our earnings guidance only reflects approximately $120 million of share repurchases over the remainder of the year.
As noted on previous calls, Globe Life has targeted a consolidated company action level RBC ratio in the range of 300% to 320%.
At December 31, 2020, our consolidated RBC ratio was 309%.
At this RBC ratio, our insurance subsidiaries have approximately $50 million of capital over the amount required at the low end of our consolidated RBC target of 300%.
This excess capital, along with the roughly $400 million of liquid assets we expect to be available at the parent, provide sufficient liquidity to fund future capital needs.
In our base case, we anticipate approximately $370 million of additional NAIC 1 notch downgrades.
Combined, our base case approximately $105 million of additional capital will be needed at our insurance subsidiaries to offset the adverse impact of the new factors and additional downgrades in order to maintain the midpoint of our consolidated RBC targets.
In the first half of 2021, the company has incurred approximately $49 million of COVID death claims, including $11 million in the second quarter.
The $11 million incurred is $10 million less than incurred in the year ago quarter and is in line with our expectations for the quarter.
The total COVID death benefits in the second quarter included $4.6 million incurred in our direct-to-consumer division or 2% of its second quarter premium income, $1.5 million incurred at Liberty National or 2% of its premium for the quarter and $3.5 million at American Income or 1% of its second quarter premium.
At the midpoint of our guidance, we anticipate approximately 20,000 to 30,000 additional COVID deaths to occur over the remainder of 2021.
As in prior quarters, we continue to estimate that we will incur COVID life claims of roughly $2 million for every 10,000 U.S. deaths.
We are estimating a range of COVID death claims of $53 million to $55 million for the substantially unchanged from our previous guidance.
As such, we have increased the midpoint of our guidance from $7.36 to $7.44 with an overall range of $7.34 to $7.54 for the year ended December 31, 2021.

In the second quarter, net income was $200 million, or $1.92 per share compared to $173 million or $1.62 per share a year ago.
Net operating income for the quarter was $193 million or $1.85 per share, an increase of 12% per share from a year ago.
We are estimating a range of COVID death claims of $53 million to $55 million for the substantially unchanged from our previous guidance.
As such, we have increased the midpoint of our guidance from $7.36 to $7.44 with an overall range of $7.34 to $7.54 for the year ended December 31, 2021.


As a result of the restructuring and the extinguishment of our COFINA exposure, along with claims payments that we have made on our other insured Puerto Rico exposure, our total insured debt service on Puerto Rico bonds has declined from $7.9 billion at year-end 2018 to $3.3 billion at the end of 2019.
At year-end 2019, our exposure to the General Obligation and PBA bonds was about $655 million of gross par or about $833 million of total debt service.
Our PREPA exposure was just under $1 billion of gross par or $1.3 billion of total debt service.
And our HTA exposure was about $600 million of gross par or $1 billion of total debt service.
At this time, there is a restructuring support agreement for the PREPA bonds that has been approved by the Federal Oversight Management Board in over 90% of the PREPA creditors.
The court hearing for the related 9019 motion is scheduled for June.
There is also a planned support agreement between the Oversight Board and a group of Commonwealth bondholders, representing approximately 54% of the par amount.
National's insured portfolio declined to $49 billion of gross par outstanding, down $9 billion or 15% from year-end 2018.
National's leverage ratio of gross par to statutory capital declined to 21 to one, down from 23 to one at year-end 2018.
During the fourth quarter, National purchased 800,000 shares of MBIA common shares at an average price of $9.25 per share.
common stock at an average price of $9.12 per share.
Subsequent to year-end, through February 20, National purchased an additional 3 million shares at an average price of $9.18 per share.
As of February 20, 2020, we had approximately $74 million remaining under our existing share repurchase authorization.
The company reported a consolidated GAAP net loss of $243 million or a negative $3.21 per share for the quarter ended December 31, 2019, compared to a consolidated GAAP net loss of $7 million or negative $0.08 per share for the quarter ended December 31, 2018.
, primarily due to a reduction in expected recoveries on claims paid on the Zohar CLOs; net investment losses due to the impairment of a legacy remediation municipal security, which was subsequently sold in January; fair value VIE loss related to the accelerated $66 million payoff of the remaining COFINA trust certificates, which also eliminated our remaining COFINA exposure.
For the 12 months ended December 31, 2019, the company reported a consolidated GAAP net loss of $359 million or a negative $4.43 per share, compared to a consolidated GAAP net loss of $296 million or negative $3.33 per share for the year ended December 31, 2018.
The company's adjusted net loss, a non-GAAP measure, was $95 million or negative $1.25 per share for the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with adjusted net income of $106 million or $1.20 per share for the fourth quarter of 2018.
For the year ended December 31, 2019, the company's adjusted net loss was $17 million or negative $0.21 per share, compared with an adjusted net loss of $38 million or negative $0.42 per share for the year ended December 31, 2018.
Book value per share decreased to $10.40 as of December 31, 2019 versus $12.46 as of December 31, 2018, primarily due to the net loss for the year, partially offset by unrealized gains on investments and 10 million fewer net shares outstanding due to share repurchases.
The corporate segment, which primarily includes the activity of the holding company, MBIA Inc., had total assets of approximately $1 billion as of December 31, 2019.
Within this total are the following material items: unencumbered cash and liquid assets held by MBIA Inc. totaled $375 million as of year-end 2019 versus $457 million at December 31, 2018.
The decrease year-over-year was primarily due to the voluntary call at par in August of $150 million of MBIA Inc.'s 6.4% notes due in 2022.
In the fourth quarter of 2019, MBIA Inc. received as-of-right dividends from National totaling $134 million, with $110 million paid in October and another $24 million paid in November.
The additional $24 million resulted from excess as-of-right dividend capacity under regulatory guidelines, measuring a three-year look back of dividends paid versus investment income.
There were approximately $490 million of assets at market value pledged to the GICs and the interest rate swaps supporting the GIC book.
And as of December 31, 2019, there were $61 million of cumulative front contributions remaining in the tax escrow account, which represented National's 2018 and year-to-date 2019 tax payments.
In January of 2020, due to a full-year 2019 tax loss at National, MBIA Inc. returned National's 2019 tax deposits of $7 million and $26 million of National's 2018 tax year deposits.
Following the returns, $28 million remained in the tax escrow account.
Turning to the insurance company's statutory results, National reported statutory net income of $4 million for the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to net income of $9 million for the prior year's comparable quarter.
The unfavorable result was primarily due to higher loss in LAE, somewhat offset by a tax benefit generated in December of 2019 when National elected to prepay our remaining insurance obligation with respect to our COFINA exposure in the amount of $66 million, thus reducing the trust obligations to 0.
In fiscal year 2019, in addition to the prepayment of our COFINA exposure, National paid $393 million of Puerto Rico-related insurance claims on a gross basis related to the January and July scheduled debt service payments.
In January of 2020, National paid $59 million in gross Puerto Rico-related claims, which brings inception-to-date gross claims to $1.2 billion.
As of December 31, 2019, National's total fixed income investment portfolio, including cash and cash equivalents, had a book adjusted carrying value of $2.5 billion.
Statutory capital was $2.4 billion and claims paying resources totaled $3.5 billion.
Insured gross par outstanding reduced by $2.3 billion during the quarter, and now stands at $48.9 billion.
, the statutory net loss was $73 million for the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to statutory net income of $13 million for the fourth quarter of 2018.
was $476 million versus $555 million as of December 31, 2018.
Claims paying resources totaled $1.2 billion and cash and liquid assets totaled $124 million.
's insured gross par outstanding was $10 billion at year-end 2019.

The company reported a consolidated GAAP net loss of $243 million or a negative $3.21 per share for the quarter ended December 31, 2019, compared to a consolidated GAAP net loss of $7 million or negative $0.08 per share for the quarter ended December 31, 2018.
The company's adjusted net loss, a non-GAAP measure, was $95 million or negative $1.25 per share for the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with adjusted net income of $106 million or $1.20 per share for the fourth quarter of 2018.
Book value per share decreased to $10.40 as of December 31, 2019 versus $12.46 as of December 31, 2018, primarily due to the net loss for the year, partially offset by unrealized gains on investments and 10 million fewer net shares outstanding due to share repurchases.
Within this total are the following material items: unencumbered cash and liquid assets held by MBIA Inc. totaled $375 million as of year-end 2019 versus $457 million at December 31, 2018.
The additional $24 million resulted from excess as-of-right dividend capacity under regulatory guidelines, measuring a three-year look back of dividends paid versus investment income.