We reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.04 and adjusted EBITDA of $26 million.
Energy prices further spiked to record levels in the fourth quarter, negatively impacting earnings by approximately $4 million versus our prior guidance, which had already reflected about $1.5 million of energy inflation.
Fourth quarter adjusted earnings from continuing operations was $1.6 million, or $0.04 per share, a decrease of $0.18 versus the same period last year.
Slide 4 shows a bridge of adjusted earnings per share of $0.22 from the fourth quarter of last year to this year's fourth quarter of $0.04.
Composite fibers results lowered earnings by $0.15, driven primarily by significant inflationary pressures experienced in energy, raw materials, and logistics.
Airlaid materials results increased earnings by $0.04, primarily due to strong volume recovery in the tabletop products category, as well as from the addition of Mount Holly results compared to the prior year.
Spunlace results lowered earnings by $0.02, driven by inflationary headwinds experienced in energy and raw materials and unfavorable operations.
Interest expense lowered earnings by $0.07, driven by the issuance of the new bond to finance the two acquisitions.
Taxes and other items were $0.02 favorable due to a lower tax rate this quarter from a valuation allowance release of approximately $3 million.
Total revenues for the quarter were 1.3% higher on a constant currency basis, mainly driven by higher selling prices of approximately $9 million.
Shipments were down 11%, or nearly 3,900 metric tons with wall cover accounting for more than 75% of the decline.
Prices of energy, wood pulp, and freight continued to escalate in the fourth quarter and negatively impacted results by $16.6 million versus the same quarter last year.
Sequentially from Q3 of 2021, this impact was $5.4 million, primarily driven by rising energy prices in Europe, which escalated even further during the quarter despite the savings provided by our existing energy hedging program.
Operations were slightly unfavorable by $200,000, and currency and related hedging activity unfavorably impacted results by $900,000.
We expect lower volume and market-related downtime to have a cost penalty of approximately $2 million.
Revenues were up 48% versus the same prior year period on a constant currency basis, supported by the addition of Mount Holly and strong recovery in the tabletop category.
Shipments of tabletop almost doubled while wipes were 74% higher when compared to the fourth quarter of last year.
Additionally, demand for home care and hygiene products were lower by 2% and 3%, respectively, reflecting changes in buying patterns at year end.
Selling prices increased meaningfully from contractual cost pass-throughs, as well as from price increases, including the 10% price increase action implemented in the third quarter for customers without cost pass-through arrangements.
While these actions together helped the segment to offset the higher raw material prices, they fell short of recovering the higher-than-anticipated energy price increases, unfavorably impacting results by a net $1.2 million.
Operations were lower by $1.7 million compared to the prior year, mainly due to higher spending and inflationary pressures.
And foreign exchange was unfavorable by $1.2 million, mainly driven by the lower euro rate.
For the first quarter of 2022, we expect shipments to be 3% higher on a sequential basis with favorable mix, thereby improving operating profit by $1 million.
Revenue for the segment was approximately $58 million in the quarter.
Shipments for the quarter were approximately 12,500 metric tons, which were slightly below our expectation of 13,000 metric tons.
The lower shipments, coupled with unfavorable mix, negatively impacted results by $700,000.
The segment also experienced higher-than-anticipated raw material inflation, particularly on synthetic fibers, as well as higher energy costs at its European sites, lowering profits by approximately $1.5 million.
The preliminary purchase price allocation resulted in depreciation and amortization of approximately $1.7 million after including the acquisition step-up to fixed and intangible assets.
However, due to inflationary pressures, we expect a loss for the first full quarter at a similar run rate as the first two months of ownership, equaling approximately $2 million for the first full quarter.
Our corporate costs for full year 2021 of $22.4 million were approximately $4.9 million lower than prior year and mostly in line with our guidance from last quarter.
Costs related to strategic initiatives for the full year were $31 million, mainly pertaining to our two acquisitions and the associated financing.
Interest and other income and expense for the full year was $15 million and in line with our previous guidance.
For 2022, we expect corporate costs to be approximately $27 million higher than 2021, where we had lower overall spending due to COVID, but in line with 2020 costs.
Our tax rate for the full year was 32% lower than our previous guidance of 38% to 40%.
This was largely driven by the release of a valuation allowance of $3 million, reflecting a change in the recovery of deferred tax assets, primarily due to changes resulting from completing the recent Jacob Holm acquisition.
We expect our Q1 2022 tax rate to be between 48% and 50% on adjusted earnings and full year interest and other financing costs to be approximately $35 million, reflecting the recent bond issuance.
2021 adjusted free cash flow was lower by approximately $10 million, driven mainly by lower cash earnings and capital expenditures.
We expect capital expenditures for 2022, including Spunlace and Mount Holly, to be between $45 million and $50 million, $7 million to $8 million of which pertains to Spunlace Systems integration costs, which we previously announced as costs associated with generating our targeted synergies.
Depreciation and amortization expense is projected to be approximately $74 million, reflecting a full year of ownership for Mount Holly and Jacob Holm.
Our leverage ratio increased to 4.6 times as of December 31, 2021, versus year-end 2020 of 1.7 times, mainly driven by the Mount Holly acquisition for $175 million and the Jacob Holm acquisition for $302 million.
We successfully executed our previously mentioned $500 million bond offering in October 2021, and we still have ample available liquidity of approximately $260 million.
Our near-term focus will be to successfully integrate Jacob Holm, realize the $20 million of expected annual synergies and actively de-lever the balance sheet.
Our objective is to move as many customers as possible to a dynamic pricing model with the goal of migrating approximately 50% of the revenue base to this new structure in '22.

Summary:
We reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.04 and adjusted EBITDA of $26 million.
Fourth quarter adjusted earnings from continuing operations was $1.6 million, or $0.04 per share, a decrease of $0.18 versus the same period last year.
Slide 4 shows a bridge of adjusted earnings per share of $0.22 from the fourth quarter of last year to this year's fourth quarter of $0.04.
Airlaid materials results increased earnings by $0.04, primarily due to strong volume recovery in the tabletop products category, as well as from the addition of Mount Holly results compared to the prior year.