Our commercial teams ensured our plants had the supplies they needed, and our industrial teams reduced unplanned downtime at the facilities, by more than 30% year-over-year in soy, and approximately 20% year-over-year in soft seeds.
And while we don't expect all of the conditions that existed in 2020 to repeat in 2021, we do expect to deliver adjusted earnings per share of at least $6 per share.
Our reported fourth quarter earnings per share were $3.74, compared to a loss of $0.48 in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Adjusted earnings per share was $3.05 in the fourth quarter versus $1.69 in the prior year.
Our reported results included a net gain of $0.59, primarily related to our previously announced sale of our Brazilian margarine and mayonnaise assets, as well as the impact of an indirect tax credit related to the favorable resolution of a tax claim.
For the full-year, 2020 rates per share was $7.71 versus a loss of $9.34 in 2019.
Adjusted full-year earnings per share was $8.30 versus $4.76 in the prior year.
Adjusted core segment earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT was $637 million in the quarter versus adjusted EBIT of $467 million in the prior year, driven by strong performances in our agribusiness and edible oil segments.
Edible oils finished up and turned out to be an excellent year, with very strong results of $113 million, up $38 million compared to last year, primarily driven by higher margins in our consumer business in Brazil, as a result of tight supply and strong demand.
Fertilizer also had a strong quarter, with results of $32 million, similar to 2019 finishing off a very strong year.
Total adjusted EBIT for corporate and other for the quarter was comprised of a negative $81 million from corporate, and $2 million from other.
This compares to a negative $95 million from corporate and negative $60 million from other for the prior year.
Results for our 50/50 joint venture with BP benefited from higher year-over-year average ethanol prices in local currency, as well as improved industrial efficiency.
For the quarter and year ended December 31, 2020, income tax expense was $97 million and $248 million respectively, compared to $16 million and $86 million respectively for the prior year.
Adjusting for notable items, the effective tax rate for the year was just under 70%.
Net interest expense of $66 million were slightly higher than our prior forecast, due to increased short-term borrowings to support higher commodity prices and volumes.
We achieved underlying addressable SG&A savings of $50 million toward our savings target of $50 million to $60 million established at our June Business Update.
The net increase of $90 million in the specified items reflects a significant increase in performance-based compensation accruals due to our improved financial performance this year, slightly offset by other items such as inflation and the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.
Moving to Slide 9, for the full-year 2020, our cash generation, excluding notable items and mark-to-market timing differences, were strong with approximately $1.9 billion of adjusted funds from operations.
The cash flow generation enabled us to comfortably fund our cash obligations over the year, and apply retained cash of $1.1 billion to reduce debt.
After allocating $254 million to sustaining capex, to include maintenance environmental health and safety, and $34 million to preferred dividends, we had approximately $1.6 billion of discretionary cash flow available.
Of this amount, we paid $282 million in common dividends to shareholders, invested $111 million in growth and productivity capex, and bought back $100 million of our stock.
As shown previously, the remaining cash flow of approximately $1.1 billion was used to strengthen our balance sheet in support of our credit rating objective of BBB/Baa2.
Moving on to Slide 11, a $1.1 billion of retained cash flow offset a portion of our $3.1 billion of cash outflow of this year for working capital.
As a result, net debt rose by $2.2 billion over the course of the year.
As the slide shows, our availability under committed credit lines remained largely unchanged, leaving us with ample liquidity as we enter 2021.
As you can see on Slide 12, at the end of the fourth quarter, only 9% of our net debt was used to fund uses other than readily marketable inventories.
This compares to 17% last year.
For 2020, adjusted ROIC was 15.9% or 9.3 percentage points over our RMI-adjusted weighted average cost of capital of 6.6%, and up from 9.7% in 2019.
ROIC was 12.2% or 6.2 percentage points over our weighted average cost of capital of 6%, and well above our stated target of 9%.
Here you can see our cash flow yield trend, which emphasizes cash generation measured against our cost of equity of 7%.
For the year ending December 31, 2020, we produced a cash flow yield of nearly 26%, up from 13.4% at year-end 2019.
As Greg mentioned in his remarks, taking into account the current margin environment and forward curves, we expect full-year 2021 adjusted earnings per share of at least $6 per share.
In Edible Oils, full-year results are expected to be comparable to last year.
In Milling, full-year results are expected to be in line with last year.
In Fertilizer, full-year results are expected to be down from a strong prior-year.
In Non-Core, full-year results in our Sugar and Bioenergy Joint Venture are expected to be a positive contributor, driven by improved sugar and Brazilian ethanol prices.
Additionally, the Company expects the following for 2021.
An adjusted annual effective tax rate in the range of 20% to 22%, net interest expense in the range of $230 million to $240 million, capital expenditures in the range of $425 million to $475 million, and depreciation and amortization of approximately $415 million.

Summary:
Our reported fourth quarter earnings per share were $3.74, compared to a loss of $0.48 in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Adjusted earnings per share was $3.05 in the fourth quarter versus $1.69 in the prior year.
As the slide shows, our availability under committed credit lines remained largely unchanged, leaving us with ample liquidity as we enter 2021.
In Edible Oils, full-year results are expected to be comparable to last year.
In Milling, full-year results are expected to be in line with last year.
In Fertilizer, full-year results are expected to be down from a strong prior-year.
In Non-Core, full-year results in our Sugar and Bioenergy Joint Venture are expected to be a positive contributor, driven by improved sugar and Brazilian ethanol prices.
Additionally, the Company expects the following for 2021.