We reported fourth quarter fiscal 2021 adjusted earnings of $1.30 per diluted share, a 17% increase over the fourth quarter of last year.
We have a full suite of DOCSIS 3.1 gateway products that help the MSOs deploy their wireless networks much faster at a lower total cost.
If all sites currently identified are deployed, the opportunity is well in excess of $50 million.
Our transportation business is performing well as the OEM Class 8 vehicle market recovers.
Our launch real estate partner has identified over $1 billion of multi-year revenue opportunity starting early calendar year ''22 if we hit the reasonable cost and performance targets.
The factors leading to this 5G growth include T-Mobile's acceleration postpaid [Phonetic], universal and competitive 5G deployments for all carriers, including AT&T, which is expected to spend $24 billion a year on its network.
This gives entry into the marketplace with an FCC requirement to deploy 70% of the U.S. population by June 2023.
And finally, government spending or government sponsored rural fiber broadband initiatives being rolled out at the federal and state levels throughout the U.S. There are some potential hurdles that could slow the ramp-up, including the success of the C-band auction completed in February for more than $81 billion, which could limit some carriers financial resources to deploy it.
In addition, the Biden administration has proposed nearly $2 trillion dollar bill, which includes upgrades to traditional infrastructure like U.S. highways and bridges, and we'll also made significant investments in non-traditional areas that should benefit EnerSys directly, such as the electric grid, EV charging and high-speed broadband.
Our fourth quarter net sales increased 4% over the prior year to $814 million due to a 4% increase from volume and 2% from currency gains net of the 2% decrease in pricing.
On a line of business basis, our fourth quarter net sales in Energy Systems were up 11% to $349 million and Specialty was up 16% to $132 million, while Motive Power revenues were down 6% to $333 million.
Motive Power suffered an 8% decline in volume along with a 1% decrease in pricing, net of a 3% increase in FX.
Energy Systems had a 12% increase from volume and a 2% improvement from currency net of a 3% decrease in pricing.
Specialty had 16% in volume improvements along with 2% offsetting impacts from positive currency and lower pricing.
On a geographical basis, our net sales for the Americas were up 4% year-over-year to $557 million, with a 6% more volume and 2% less pricing.
EMEA was up 2% to $203 million despite 3% volume and pricing declines due to an 8% improvement in currency.
While Asia was up 19% at $55 million on 9% volume and 10% currency improvements.
On a sequential basis, fourth quarter net sales were up 8% compared to the third quarter, driven by 9% volume improvements, net of a 1% price decline.
On a line of business basis, Specialty increased 21% with our TPPL continuing to provide more capacity for transportation sales, while Motive Power was up 9% as rebounds from the pandemic and Energy Systems was up 3%.
On a year-over-year basis, adjusted consolidated operating earnings in the fourth quarter increased approximately $7 million to $78 million, with the operating margin up 50 basis points.
On a sequential basis, our fourth quarter operating earnings dollars were flat at $78 million, while our OE margin dropped 80 basis points to 9.6%, primarily due to Energy Systems results, which I will address shortly.
Operating expenses when excluding highlighted items were at 14.6% of sales for the quarter compared to 16.4% in the prior year as we reduced our spending by $9 million year-over-year and by 10 basis points sequentially.
Excluded from operating expenses recorded on a GAAP basis in Q4 are pre-tax charges of $27 million, primarily related to $6 million in Alpha and NorthStar amortization, and $21 million in restructuring charges for the previously announced closure of our flooded Motive Power factory in Hagen, Germany.
Excluding those highlighted charges, our Motive Power business generated operating earnings of 15.6% or 300 basis points higher than the 12.6% in the fourth quarter of last year, due primarily to improvements in manufacturing costs and lower operating expenses.
OE dollars for Motive Power increased over $7 million from the prior year.
On a sequential basis, Motive Power's fourth quarter OE decreased 230 basis points from the 13.3 -- excuse me, increased 230 basis points from the 13.3% margin posted in the third quarter, again due primarily to improved manufacturing and operating costs along with better price mix.
Energy Systems operating earnings percentage of 2.6% was down from last year's 4.1% and from last quarter's 7.4%.
OE dollars decreased $4 million from the prior year and decreased $16 million from the prior quarter despite slightly higher volume on lower margins and higher input costs.
Specialty operating earnings percentage of 13.2% was up from last year's 11.7% and up from last quarter's 11.9%.
OE dollars increased over $4 million from both the prior year and prior quarter on higher volume and lower operating expenses.
As previously reflected on Slide 12, our fourth quarter adjusted consolidated operating earnings of $78 million was a increase of $7 million or 10% from the prior year.
Our adjusted consolidated net earnings of $56.5 million was $9 million higher than the prior year.
Our adjusted effective income tax rate of 19% for the fourth quarter was slightly higher than the prior year's rate of 18% and higher than the prior quarter's rate of 17%.
Fiscal 2021 tax rate of 18% was consistent with that of the prior year.
Fourth quarter earnings per share increased 17% to $1.30, which was near the top of our guidance range.
We expect our weighted average shares for the first fiscal quarter of 2022 to remain relatively constant to be approximate $43.5 million of the fourth quarter.
As a reminder, we now have over $75 million of share buybacks authorized and we have made modest purchases recently.
We have included our year-to-date results on Slides 14 and 15 for your information, but I do not intend to cover these details.
We have $452 million of cash on hand and our credit agreements leverage ratio was 1.7 times, which allows over $600 million in additional borrowing capacity.
We expect our leverage to remain below 2.0 times in fiscal 2022.
We generated a record $288 million of free cash flow in fiscal 2021.
Capital expenditures of $70 million were in line with our prior guidance.
Our capex expectation for fiscal 2022 is $100 million and reflects major investment programs in lithium, battery development, and continued expansion of our TPPL capacity, including the NorthStar integration.
The expected $20 million in annual savings are starting to be felt already with the full benefit arriving by our fourth fiscal quarter of this year.
We anticipate our gross profit rate to remain near 24% in Q1 of fiscal 2022, and we expect expanding margins thereafter.
Despite some concerns over the potential for late arising shortages, we feel we have enough visibility to provide guidance in the range of $1.15 to $1.25 in our first fiscal quarter of year 2022.

Summary:
We reported fourth quarter fiscal 2021 adjusted earnings of $1.30 per diluted share, a 17% increase over the fourth quarter of last year.
Fourth quarter earnings per share increased 17% to $1.30, which was near the top of our guidance range.