So starting with the top line, first quarter 2021 consolidated sales increased 12.3% to $4.66 billion.
Consolidated gross margin decreased 20 basis points to 45.4% due to greater than anticipated raw material cost inflation.
SG&A expense as a percent of sales decreased 300 basis points to 28.5%.
Consolidated profit before tax increased $116.7 million or 29.8% to $509 million.
The first quarter of 2021 included $75.6 million of acquisition related depreciation and amortization expense and one-time costs of $111.9 million related to the divestiture of the Wattyl Australian business.
The first quarter of 2020 included $75.6 million of acquisition-related depreciation and amortization expense.
Excluding these items, consolidated profit before tax increased 48.8% to $696.5 million with flow-through of 44.9%.
Diluted net income per share in the quarter increased to $1.51 per share from $1.15 per share a year ago.
The first quarter of 2021 included acquisition-related depreciation and amortization expense of $0.21 per share and one-time costs related to the Wattyl divestiture of $0.34 per share.
The first quarter of 2020 included acquisition-related depreciation and amortization expense of $0.21 per share.
Excluding these items first quarter adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 51.5% to $2.06 per share from $1.36 per share.
Adjusted EBITDA grew to $848.7 million in the quarter or 18.2% of sales.
Net operating cash grew to a $195.7 million in the quarter.
Segment margin in the Americas Group improved 240 basis points to 19.2% of sales resulting primarily from operating leverage on the high single-digit top line growth.
Adjusted segment margin in Consumer Brands Group improved 440 basis points to 21.4% of sales resulting primarily from operating leverage on the double-digit top line growth.
Flow-through was 38.9% and adjusted segment margin in Performance Coatings Group improved 60 basis points to 14.3% of sales driven by operating leverage on the double-digit sales growth, which was partially offset by higher raw material costs.
Credit goes to all of 61,000 members of our team who are serving our customers at a high level, aggressively pursuing and capturing new business and managing through transitory disruptions in the supply chain.
In The Americas Group, first quarter sales increased by 8.6% over the same period a year ago including about 1.7 percentage points of price.
Same-store sales in the U.S. and Canada were up 8.2% against a high single-digit comparison.
Our previously announced 3% to 4% price increase to U.S. and Canadian customers became effective February 1st prior to the supply chain disruption the industry began experiencing later in the quarter.
We realized approximately 1.7% from price in the first quarter, and would expect 2% or better in the following quarters.
We opened 11 new stores in the quarter in the U.S. and Canada.
Moving onto our Consumer Brands Group, sales increased 25% in the quarter, including 2.7 percentage points of positive impact related to currency translation as DIY demand remained robust.
Currency translation was a tailwind of 2% in the quarter.
We returned approximately $930 million to our shareholders in the quarter in the form of dividends and share buybacks.
We invested $735 million to purchase 3.3 million shares at an average price of $234.96.
We distributed $151.8 million in dividends, an increase of 23.5%.
We also invested $64.3 million in our business through capital expenditures.
We ended the quarter with a debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 2.5 times.
We expect Consumer Brands to be down by a low double-digit to mid-teens percentage including a negative impact of approximately 4 percentage points related to the Wattyl divestiture and we expect Performance Coatings to be up by a high 20's percentage.
We expect the Americas Group to be up by a mid to high single-digit percentage, Consumer Brands Group to be up or down by a low single-digit percentage including a negative impact of approximately 5 percentage points related to the Wattyl divestiture and Performance Coatings Group to be up by a mid single-digit percentage.
We expect diluted net income per share for 2021 to be in the range of $7.66 to $7.93 per share compared to $7.36 per share earned in 2020.
Full year 2021 earnings per share guidance includes acquisition-related amortization expense of $0.80 per share and a loss on the Wattyl divestiture of $0.34 per share.
On an adjusted basis, we expect full-year 2021 earnings per share of $8.80 to $9.07, an increase of 9% at the midpoint over the $8.19 we delivered in 2020.
We expect to return to our normal cadence with around 80 new store openings in the U.S. and Canada in 2021.
We expect our 2021 effective tax rate to be in the low 20% range.
We expect full-year depreciation to be approximately $280 million and amortization to be approximately 300 million.
We have $25 million of long-term debt due in 2021.
We expect to increase the dividend by 23.5% for the full year.

Summary:
So starting with the top line, first quarter 2021 consolidated sales increased 12.3% to $4.66 billion.
Diluted net income per share in the quarter increased to $1.51 per share from $1.15 per share a year ago.
Excluding these items first quarter adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 51.5% to $2.06 per share from $1.36 per share.
We expect diluted net income per share for 2021 to be in the range of $7.66 to $7.93 per share compared to $7.36 per share earned in 2020.
On an adjusted basis, we expect full-year 2021 earnings per share of $8.80 to $9.07, an increase of 9% at the midpoint over the $8.19 we delivered in 2020.