As a company, we achieved $222 million in revenues and excellent bottom line performance, with GAAP earnings per share of $0.85 or $0.87 per share on an adjusted basis.
Our Machine Clothing segment had its strongest quarterly top line performance since 2015, with revenues up nearly $12 million year-over-year and good order activity in Q1, which bodes well for this year.
In Aerospace, as we reported last quarter, our Engineered Composites segment will be grinding through a year of destocking of excess inventory in the channels for LEAP, Boeing 787 and F-35 products.
We're working closely with Safran to coordinate our operations as the LEAP engine production ramps up, supporting the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX.
With domestic air travel recovering first and fueling demand for narrow-body aircraft, A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX are in the sweet spot of the air transport recovery.
This ranges from our proprietary 3D woven composites currently used on LEAP engine fan blades and hand cases to automated fiber placement composite wing skins for Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to complex components on the Sikorsky CH-53K helicopter.
For the first quarter, total company net sales were $222.4 million, a decrease of 5.7% compared to the $235.8 million delivered in the same quarter last year.
Adjusting for currency translation effects, net sales declined by 8.2% year-over-year in the quarter.
In Machine Clothing, also adjusting for currency translation effects, net sales were up 4.9% year-over-year, resulting in the highest Q1 revenue for the segment since 2015, as Bill had mentioned.
The revenue from publication declined by 10% in the quarter and represented only 16% of MC's revenue this quarter.
Engineered Composites net sales, again, after adjusting for currency translation effects, declined by $26.2 million, primarily caused by significant reductions in LEAP and Boeing 787 program revenue, partially offset by growth on the F-35 and CH-53K platforms.
During the quarter, the ASC LEAP program generated a little under $27 million in revenue, a slight improvement over the roughly $24 million delivered in Q4 of 2020, but down significantly from roughly $39 million delivered in Q1 of last year.
First quarter gross profit for the company was $88.5 million, a reduction of 1% from the comparable period last year.
The overall gross margin increased by 190 basis points from 37.9% to 39.8% of net sales.
Within the MC segment, gross margin declined from 53.2% to 51.5% of net sales, principally due to higher fixed costs and lower absorption.
Within AEC, the gross margin declined from 17% to 16.4% of net sales, driven primarily by the impact of changes in the estimated profitability of long-term contracts.
Last year, during the first quarter, we recognized a net favorable change in the estimated profitability of long-term contracts of close to $1 million.
First quarter selling, technical, general and research expenses declined from $49.2 million in the prior year quarter to $46.7 million in the current quarter and were roughly flat as a percentage of net sales at about 21%.
Total operating income for the company was $41.8 million, up from $39.6 million in the prior year quarter.
Machine Clothing operating income increased by $3.2 million driven by higher gross profit, partially offset by higher STG&R expense, and AEC operating income fell by $4.7 million, caused by lower gross profit.
Other income and expense in the quarter netted to an expense of $600,000 compared to an expense of $15.6 million in the same period last year.
The income tax rate for this quarter was 26.7%, compared to the unusually high 62.1% rate we recorded last year.
Apart from that, in this quarter, favorable income tax adjustments reduced income tax expense by $1.3 million compared to an increase of $5.1 million from similar adjustments in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable to the company for the quarter was $27.6 million, an increase of $18.5 million from $9.1 million last year.
Earnings per share was $0.85 in this quarter, compared to $0.28 last year.
After adjusting for the impact of foreign currency revaluation gains and losses, restructuring expenses, expenses associated with the CirComp acquisition and integration and severance costs in the prior year period, adjusted earnings per share was $0.87 this quarter compared to $0.78 last year.
Adjusted EBITDA grew 2.6% to $60.7 million for the most recent quarter compared to the same period last year.
Machine Clothing adjusted EBITDA was $54.9 million or 37.1% of net sales this year, up from $49.2 million or 36% of net sales in the prior year quarter.
AEC adjusted EBITDA was $16.7 million or 22.6% of net sales, down from last year's $22.1 million or 22.3% of net sales.
Total debt, which consists of amounts reported on our balance sheet as long-term debt or current maturities of long-term debt, declined from $398 million at the end of Q4 2020 to $384 million at the end of Q1 2021.
And cash declined by just over $3 million during the quarter, resulting in a reduction in net debt of over $10 million.
This year, we performed better than we would typically expect and delivered free cash flow, defined as cash flow from operations less capital expenditures, of $21.1 million, compared to a use of over $19 million in the same quarter last year, driven primarily by improvements in AEC working capital.
Capital expenditures in Q1 of each year were approximately $13 million.
Our absolute net leverage ratio is now 0.65, providing us with a very strong balance sheet, allowing us to take advantage of organic and acquired growth opportunities.
As we look forward to the balance of 2021, the outlook for the Machine Clothing segment remained strong.
Compared to the same quarter last year, MC orders were down 2%.
Further, from a backlog perspective, we are in a stronger position entering Q1 in 2021 than we were in 2020.
So overall, we are feeling good about our previously issued guidance of revenue for the segment of between $570 million and $590 million.
From a margin perspective in Machine Clothing, we delivered another strong quarter, with adjusted EBITDA margins north of 37%.
While we are maintaining our adjusted EBITDA guidance for the segment of $195 million to $205 million, we are currently trending toward the upper portion of that range.
We are seeing the expected impact of the 787 frames channel destocking in our top line results.
During the quarter, we generated less than $1 million of revenue from the 787 frames program compared to over $12 million in the same quarter last year.
I already noted that the ASC LEAP program was also down by about $12 million during the quarter.
As a result of these declines, the share of AEC revenue derived from defense programs grew to over 48% during the quarter.
That said, we will still see the previously disclosed revenue impact from F-35 channel destocking in the second and third quarters.
The year is shaping up in line with expectations for the segment, and we are maintaining our guidance range of $275 million to $295 million for segment revenues.
From a profitability perspective, our performance to date is broadly in line with our expectations, and we are maintaining our AEC adjusted EBITDA guidance of $55 million to $65 million.
Current guidance is as follows: revenue of between $850 million and $890 million; effective income tax rate of 28% to 30%; depreciation amortization of between $70 million and $75 million; capital expenditures in the range of $50 million to $60 million, GAAP earnings per share of between $2.38 and $2.78, down slightly from prior guidance of $2.40 and $2.80; adjusted earnings per share of between $2.40 and $2.80; and adjusted EBITDA of between $195 million and $220 million.

Summary:
As a company, we achieved $222 million in revenues and excellent bottom line performance, with GAAP earnings per share of $0.85 or $0.87 per share on an adjusted basis.
For the first quarter, total company net sales were $222.4 million, a decrease of 5.7% compared to the $235.8 million delivered in the same quarter last year.
Earnings per share was $0.85 in this quarter, compared to $0.28 last year.
After adjusting for the impact of foreign currency revaluation gains and losses, restructuring expenses, expenses associated with the CirComp acquisition and integration and severance costs in the prior year period, adjusted earnings per share was $0.87 this quarter compared to $0.78 last year.
As we look forward to the balance of 2021, the outlook for the Machine Clothing segment remained strong.
Further, from a backlog perspective, we are in a stronger position entering Q1 in 2021 than we were in 2020.
Current guidance is as follows: revenue of between $850 million and $890 million; effective income tax rate of 28% to 30%; depreciation amortization of between $70 million and $75 million; capital expenditures in the range of $50 million to $60 million, GAAP earnings per share of between $2.38 and $2.78, down slightly from prior guidance of $2.40 and $2.80; adjusted earnings per share of between $2.40 and $2.80; and adjusted EBITDA of between $195 million and $220 million.