Early this year, we were still working through the remnants of that environment. At this time, however, most suppliers have returned to normal lead times and transit times have returned to normal. Our biggest challenge in the short term is understanding the expected retailer and consumer demand. retailers reduced their on-hand inventory levels earlier this year. The point-of-sale trends are down slightly but are still above pre-pandemic levels. While our revenue is now increasing over 2022, we continue to receive orders that are slightly lower than expected. Economists and retailers are focused on whether consumers will be able to remain as resilient as they have been. Consequently, we expect retailers to remain cautious in the near term. At the same time, we are excited about favorable feedback from retailers regarding our products and brands.
Our investments in our brands, innovation as well as our leading shares in many categories are all benefits. We are in the process of finding our 2024 plan. We expect to provide more details regarding our outlook for next year when we announce our fourth quarter results. And now I will turn our discussion over to Sally.
Sally Cunningham : Thank you, Greg. Good morning, everybody. I will start with our third quarter 2023 results compared to the third quarter of 2022. Net sales increased to $153.6 million in the third quarter of 2023 compared to $150.8 million last year. Due to increased unit volume that was partially offset by lower average sales price. Gross profit for the quarter was $40.1 million or 26.1% of total revenue compared to $34.8 million or 23.1% in the prior year. The increase was due to lower product costs and lower distribution and warehousing costs, offset by lower average sales price. Selling, general and administrative expenses were relatively flat year-over-year at $25.6 million compared to $25.4 million last year. With increased personnel-related expenses offset by a nonrecurring insurance recovery this year.
Operating profit increased significantly to $14.4 million for the third quarter of 2023 compared to $9.4 million last year. Reflecting gross profit expansion and relatively flat SG&A. Net interest expense decreased by $700,000 to $600,000 for the third quarter of 2023 versus $1.3 million last year. This decrease reflects significantly lower average debt outstanding, partially offset by higher interest rates. Other expense net was flat compared to last year and included currency losses of $400,000 this year. The effective tax rate for the third quarter was 21.6%, and compared to 22.8% in last year’s same period. The lower rate in the third quarter of 2023 was due to a discrete benefit on foreign income in the current year. Net income for the quarter was $10.3 million or $0.74 per diluted share compared to net income of $5.9 million or $0.43 per diluted share in last year’s third quarter.
Now turning to our balance sheet and cash flows. Year-to-date, net cash provided by operating activities increased nearly $109 million to $68.7 million compared to an outflow of $40.2 million in the prior year period. Significant improvement was driven by our focus on net working capital improvement. We continue to reduce inventory, which declined more than $84 million versus the prior year period, reflecting our inventory reduction and control actions. Accounts payable was $116.1 million compared to $111.5 million last year, primarily due to the timing of purchases. And trade receivables were $102.2 million compared to $97.8 million, reflecting our higher sales. We allocated our strong cash flow primarily to reduce debt as well as return value to shareholders through the quarterly dividend and repurchase of stock.
At the end of the third quarter, net debt was $49.7 million compared to $144.5 million in the same period last year. During the third quarter, we paid $1.5 million in regular cash dividends and repurchased 82,676 shares at prevailing market prices for an aggregate purchase price of $900,000. The capital expenditures were $2.4 million for the 9 months ended September 30, 2023, and compared to $1.6 million for the same period last year. This increase primarily related to internal use software development costs. Now turning to our outlook for the full year 2023. As Greg reported, we expect total revenue to be modestly below full year 2022. Operating profit is expected to increase compared to 2022 and excluding the $10 million insurance recovery in 2022.
Cash flow before financing is expected to increase significantly compared to 2022 as a result of our improvements in net working capital. Our outlook to change is consumer demand and retailer replenishment orders are softer than currently expected. This concludes our prepared remarks. We will now turn the line back to the operator for Q&A.
Operator: [Operator Instructions] We’ll take our question from Adam Bradley with AJB Capital. Please go ahead.
Adam Bradley: Hey, Greg and Sally, how are you? Hey, so solid quarter, strong profitability through gross margins. That was great to see and great to see the free cash flow improving with net working capital. I’ve just a couple of questions. I’ll start with one or two and then get back into the queue. Looking longer term, it’s helpful for investors when you share your strategic initiatives. As you kind of look out over the next, say, three years or whatever your outlook is — where do you see the greatest opportunities for dollar sales growth from your strategic initiatives? Just speaking kind of broadly?
