Our supply chain teams work 24/7 to overcome unprecedented logistics challenges and material shortages to keep our factory supplied.
As a company, we delivered GAAP earnings per share of $0.95, $0.83 on an adjusted basis on $232 million in revenue, an increase of nearly 10% from Q3 last year.
Our Machine Clothing segment continues to fire on all cylinders and grew sales by 11% compared to Q3 last year with excellent profitability and free cash flow generation.
Engineered composites delivered top-line growth of nearly 7% and performed well, as we work toward the upturn in commercial aerospace.
Our profitability was solid with gross margins of 40%, operating margins of 19%, and adjusted EBITDA margins of 26% and we continued our strong free cash flow generation, over $40 million in the quarter.
Consequently, we're hiring employees and planning for a ramp-up in LEAP production driven by Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX growth.
We see positive signs in international travel bookings as borders reopen and people have begun to travel internationally, although we don't expect any near-term pickup in wide-body production demand such as for our Boeing 787 composite frames line as there still inventory in the system and international travel has been slow to recover.
Our AEC businesses continue to perform well on our military platforms Sikorsky CH-53K helicopter, Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and Jazan missile programs.
This time may be different, as we don't see inflationary pressures abating anytime soon.
As a result, today, there are more than 32.3 million shares of Class A common stock outstanding and less than 1,200 shares of Class B stock outstanding, which are held by two former employees.
Adding to these options, Albany's Board of Directors has authorized a $200 million share repurchase program, expanding the set of capital allocation alternatives we have at our disposal.
For the third quarter, total company net sales were $232.4 million, an increase of 9.6% compared to the $212 million delivered in the same quarter last year.
Adjusting for currency translation effects, net sales rose by 8.8% year-over-year in the quarter.
In Machine Clothing also adjusting for currency translation effects, net sales were up 9.9% year-over-year.
Engineered composites' net sales, again, after adjusting for currency translation effects, grew by 6.7% primarily driven by growth on LEAP and CH-53K partially offset by expected declines on the 787 and F-35 platforms.
During the quarter, the ASC LEAP program generated about $25 million in revenue, comparable to the first two quarters of this year, but up about $9 million from the third quarter of last year.
During the most recent quarter, we reduce that inventory by over 30 engine shipsets down to about 140 engine shipsets on hand.
Given the current rates of the inventory consumption on that program, we would not plan to have that inventory level drop below about 100 engine shipsets, so we can see the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of inventory destocking.
However, we do have some concern with the rate of which Boeing is destocking its inventory of finished 737 MAX aircraft, so there is still some lack of clarity around 2022 build rates.
Also during the quarter, we generated under $3 million of revenue on the 787 program down slightly from the second quarter, but down from almost $9 million in the same quarter last year.
Third quarter gross profit for the company was $92 million, an increase of over 5% from the comparable period last year.
The overall gross margin decreased by 160 basis points from 41.2% to 39.5% of net sales.
Within the MC segment, gross margin was flat at 51.5% of net sales as the benefit from improved absorption was offset by the impact of year-over-year foreign currency changes and rising input costs.
For the AEC segment, the gross margin declined from 21.6% to 16.1% of net sales caused by a smaller impact from changes in the estimated profitability of long-term contracts, a change in program mix, and lower fixed cost absorption due to the lower 787 and F-35 revenues, and the impact of sharing with our customer base a portion of The Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection grant received during the quarter.
The $5.8 million benefit of this grant appears in the corporate portion of the results while the reduced profitability caused by sharing a portion of the grant with our customer base is reported in the segment results.
During the quarter, we recognized a net favorable change in the estimated profitability of AEC's long-term contracts of about $2 million but this compares to a net favorable change of about $3.5 million in the same quarter last year.
Third quarter Selling, Technical, General, and Research expenses were $47.4 million in the current quarter, down slightly from $47.8 million in the prior year quarter and were down as a percentage of net sales from 22.6% to 20.4%.
While R&D was up over $4 million -- over $1 million this quarter and while we also incurred higher travel expenses, these were more than offset by a foreign currency revaluation gain this quarter compared to a foreign currency revaluation loss in the same quarter last year.
Total operating income for the company was $44.5 million, up from $38.8 million in the prior year quarter.
Machine Clothing operating income rose by $9.8 million, driven by higher gross profit and lower STG&R expense.
And AEC operating income fell by $3.9 million caused by lower gross profit and higher STG&R expense partially offset by lower restructuring expense.
The income tax rate for this quarter was 29.4% compared to 24.7% in the same quarter last year.
We reported over $2 million in expense under other income expense this quarter primarily due to a true-up of indirect taxes in a foreign jurisdiction.
Net income attributable to the company for the quarter was $30.9 million, an increase of over $1 million from $29.6 million last year.
Earnings per share were $0.95 in this quarter compared to $0.92 last year.
After making these non-GAAP adjustments, adjusted earnings per share was $0.83 this quarter compared to $0.96 last year.
Adjusted EBITDA declined by 2.6% to $60.2 million for the most recent quarter compared to the same period last year.
Machine Clothing adjusted EBITDA was $59.2 million or 38.4% of net sales, up from $52.6 million or 37.9% of net sales in the prior year quarter.
AEC adjusted EBITDA was $16.3 million or 20.8% of net sales, down from last year's $19.5 million or 26.6% 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 remained steady at $350 million.
Cash increased by about $33 million during the quarter resulting in a reduction in net debt by the same $33 million.
Capital expenditures in the quarter of about $9 million were roughly the same as incurred in the same quarter last year.
However, given our modest leverage and strong free cash flow outlook, the Board of Directors has authorized a $200 million share repurchase program.
Q3 revenues were up over 11% compared to last year partially aided by some currency tailwinds to revenue, primarily due to strong euro.
Segment orders year-to-date are up about 6% compared to last year and backlog entering Q4 is only modestly higher than at the same time last year.
We typically generate about 23% to 25% of the segment's revenue in the fourth quarter, and we expect this year to be broadly similar to that.
As a result, we are raising our previously issued guidance of revenue for the segment to between -- to be between $600 million and $610 million, up from the prior range of $585 million to $600 million.
From a margin perspective in Machine Clothing, we delivered another strong quarter, with adjusted EBITDA margins of almost 39%.
Driven primarily by the strong revenue performance, we are increasing our adjusted EBITDA guidance for the segment to a range of $215 million to $225 million, up from the prior range of $210 million to $220 million.
We were very pleased to be awarded an Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection grant during the quarter of $5.8 million which recognizes the challenges that we, along with the rest of the industry have experienced due to the COVID pandemic.
While unlikely to have any material impact on the balance of 2021, we are concerned about the slow recovery of the Boeing 787 program where Boeing has indicated that they will continue to produce at a low rate for the foreseeable future.
As of the end of the third quarter, we had the equivalent of about five shipsets of 787 product in either finished goods or WIP which is not unusually high.
As you know, our production levels on the F-35 have been uncertain this year, as our customer has dealt with issues elsewhere in the supply chain over the last 18 months and with lower depot consumption of aftermarket parts.
We are confident in our outlook for the balance of the year, but I will note that Lockheed Martin and its government customer have established a new outlook for program production that plateaus at 156 aircraft in 2023, a lower rate, and an earlier date than the previously planned plateau.
The F-35 remains a very good and profitable program for us.
Therefore we are raising the lower end of our guidance range for segment revenues resulting in the range of between $310 million, up from the previous range of $290 million to $310 million.
From a profitability perspective, given the year is progressing largely as expected, we are maintaining the previously issued guidance range for AEC adjusted EBITDA of between $65 million and $70 million.
We are also updating our previously issued guidance ranges for company-level performance, including revenue of between $900 million and $920 million increased from prior guidance of $880 million to $910 million.
Effective income tax rate of 28% to 30%, unchanged from prior guidance.
Depreciation and amortization of about $75 million, unchanged from prior guidance.
Capital expenditures in the range of $40 million to $50 million also unchanged from prior guidance.
GAAP earnings per share of between $3.23 and $3.38 increased from prior guidance of $2.84 to $3.14.
Adjusted earnings per share of between $3.15 and $3.30 increased from prior guidance of $2.19 to $3.20 and adjusted EBITDA of between $230 million and $240 million increased from prior guidance of $225 million to $240 million.

Summary:
As a company, we delivered GAAP earnings per share of $0.95, $0.83 on an adjusted basis on $232 million in revenue, an increase of nearly 10% from Q3 last year.
This time may be different, as we don't see inflationary pressures abating anytime soon.
Adding to these options, Albany's Board of Directors has authorized a $200 million share repurchase program, expanding the set of capital allocation alternatives we have at our disposal.
Earnings per share were $0.95 in this quarter compared to $0.92 last year.
After making these non-GAAP adjustments, adjusted earnings per share was $0.83 this quarter compared to $0.96 last year.
However, given our modest leverage and strong free cash flow outlook, the Board of Directors has authorized a $200 million share repurchase program.
We are also updating our previously issued guidance ranges for company-level performance, including revenue of between $900 million and $920 million increased from prior guidance of $880 million to $910 million.
Capital expenditures in the range of $40 million to $50 million also unchanged from prior guidance.
GAAP earnings per share of between $3.23 and $3.38 increased from prior guidance of $2.84 to $3.14.
Adjusted earnings per share of between $3.15 and $3.30 increased from prior guidance of $2.19 to $3.20 and adjusted EBITDA of between $230 million and $240 million increased from prior guidance of $225 million to $240 million.