Cash provided by operating activities improved by $151 million from the prior year driven by a $103 million improvement in balance sheet changes, including an improvement in working capital cash flows of $41 million and an increase in cash flows from liabilities, excluding borrowings and trade payables, of $49 million. We are comfortable with our levels of working capital and have maintained our focus on serving our customers throughout this difficult economic period. Cash used in investing activities was $15 million in the year-to-date period, an improvement of $29 million when compared to the prior year period. The prior year period includes a $25 million equity interest investment in Wildcat Discovery Technologies. Cash provided by financing activities was $87 million in the 9 months ending September 30, 2023, compared to cash provided by financing activities of $45 million in the prior year period.
The improvement in cash from financing activities is driven by the impacts of the refinancing transaction, which occurred in the third quarter of 2023. Restricted cash at the end of the quarter was $128 million, an increase of $59 million from December 31, 2022. Restricted cash primarily represents cash collateral required to support workers’ compensation liabilities, cash collateral supporting the existing letter of credit facility and certain aluminum supply contracts, in addition to escrows to secure various ongoing obligations. As referred to earlier, the company deposited $68 million of refinancing proceeds with the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board during the quarter. This is reported as restricted cash on our statement of financial position.
We will continue to focus on alternatives to reduce restrictions on cash. As presented on the bottom portion of the slide, excluding the changes in restricted cash for each period, the impact of net proceeds from the refinancing transaction in the current year and the delayed draw term loan financing in the prior year, the current year receipt of a refund from a non-U.S. governmental authority and the current and prior year effect of exchange rates on cash, year-over-year increase in cash and cash equivalents was $175 million. This is primarily the result of the improved cash flow from operations of $151 million. We are pleased with the company’s cash flow performance and the health of our balance sheet. We will continue to focus on the execution of our long-term strategy.
Finally, we remain in compliance with applicable financial covenants. I will now turn the discussion back to Jim.
James Continenza: Thank you, Dave. Kodak continued to navigate in an extremely challenging business environment. We delivered strong performance in the third quarter, increasing gross profit and operational EBITDA year-over-year for the fourth consecutive quarter and improving our cash flow performance. Our performance reflects our commitment to our strategy, our employees’ commitment to executing and our customers’ loyalty to stay with Kodak during these times. We’ll continue to work closely with our customers and overcome these obstacles. We have built a strong foundation that is allowing us to continue to gain momentum and which I would call again some of the most difficult times that I’ve ever worked in. We continue to invest in our print business.
We’ll continue to invest in our Advanced Materials and Chemicals business. Inside of Kodak today, it’s a fight for capital. Where we feel we’ll get the greatest return is where we will invest those dollars. We will continue to invest in infrastructure and improvements that make us more efficient and easy to do business with. It’s important to us that we make it as simple as possible for our customers to interact with us and efficiently so they can continue to grow their profit and their business. We will continue to focus on adapting to the environment and all the challenges that we see, supporting our employees, investing in our customers and delivering products to help them succeed. I want to thank you all for attending the call and your continued interest in Eastman Kodak.
Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.
End of Q&A:
