Michael Hand: Thank you, Jack, and good morning, everyone. I look forward to working with the team to ensure a smooth transition and lending my support as needed going forward. As Jack discussed, we are pleased to have delivered third quarter results that reflect a sequential improvement from the second quarter from both the top and bottom line perspective, despite the ongoing macro environment and increased royalty expenses that we did not incur last year. Turning now to our results in more detail. Total company net sales for the third quarter decreased 14.7% to $84.1 million compared to $98.6 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2022. The year-over-year decline was driven by a 100% decrease in Rebecca Taylor and Parker combined net sales due to the previously announced wind down of the Rebecca Taylor business, which is complete.
The Rebecca Taylor and Parker combined net sales totaled $8.9 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2022. Vince brand sales declined 6.2% compared to the prior year period. The Vince brand net sales decrease was driven by year-over-year declines in both our wholesale and direct-to-consumer segments, but reflects a sequential improvement from the second quarter. Our top line performance was impacted by macro-related headwinds and the strategic decision to pull back on our off-price business within our wholesale channel. In direct-to-consumer, we continued to see outperformance in our stores compared to e-commerce but as Jack discussed, we are seeing nice improvement in AOV and engagement on our site. Gross profit in the third quarter was $37.2 million or 44.2% of net sales.
This compares to $29.8 million or 30.2% of net sales in the third quarter of last year. The increase in gross margin rate was driven by approximately 790 basis points related to the wind down of the Rebecca Taylor business, which historically operated at a lower overall gross margin. Favorable year-over-year adjustments to inventory reserves, lower freight costs and lower promotional activity. These factors were partially offset by approximately 480 basis points of royalty expenses associated with the licensing agreement with Authentic Brands Group. Selling, general and administrative expenses in the quarter were $34.4 million or 40.9% of net sales as compared to $39.2 million or 39.8% of net sales for the third quarter of last year. The decrease in SG&A dollars was primarily driven by the wind down of the Rebecca Taylor business, resulting in $8.7 million net expense favorability in the third quarter of fiscal 2023 as well as lower expenses related to product development.
These lower costs were partially offset by an increase in rent and occupancy costs primarily attributable to lease modifications effective in the third quarter of fiscal 2022 as well as increased compensation and benefits mainly due to lower bonus compensation in the third quarter of fiscal 2022 as well as $0.2 million in transaction and expenses related to the authentic transaction. Operating income for the third quarter was $2.8 million compared to an operating loss of $9.4 million in the same period last year. Adjusted operating income, which excludes the transaction expenses was $3.1 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2023. Net interest expense decreased to $2 million compared to $2.5 million in the prior year. The decrease was driven by the year-over-year reduction in debt given the previously announced refinancing actions we took earlier this year.
Income tax provision for the third quarter was $0.5 million primarily driven by discrete tax expense associated with the authentic transaction. The tax expense in the third quarter of fiscal 2023 compares to an income tax benefit of $6.6 million in the same period last year. For the full year, we expect to report an income tax benefit of approximately $5.3 million. Net income for the third quarter was $1 million or $0.08 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $5.2 million or a $0.43 loss per share in the third quarter last year. Adjusted net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2023, excluding the transaction expenses was $1.8 million or $0.15 per diluted share. With respect to our year-to-date performance, we delivered total company net sales of $217.6 million for the 9 months ended October 28, 2023 compared to $266.1 million in the prior year period, which included $27.3 million of Rebecca Taylor and Parker combined net sales.
In addition, for the 9 months ended October 28, 2023, we delivered income from operations of $33.3 million compared to loss from operations of $19.9 million in the prior year. The fiscal 2023 period includes the $32 million benefit from the Vince IP sale gain $6.3 million in royalty expenses and $5.2 million in transaction expenses that were not incurred in the prior year period. Moving to the balance sheet. Net inventory was $69.6 million at the end of the third quarter as compared to $116.4 million at the end of the third quarter last year. The year-over-year decrease in inventory was driven by the wind down of the Rebecca Taylor business as well as the normalization of inventory within Vince as we sold through higher levels of inventory from the prior year and rebalanced our inventory purchases for the current season.
We continue to expect inventory levels to remain below the prior year reflecting the comparisons to last year as well as the actions we have taken to move through units and our more conservative buys for our current season inventory. Turning our expectations for the balance of fiscal year 2023. While we are not providing formal earnings guidance at this time, as Jack noted, we have entered the fourth quarter with solid momentum, and expect to deliver another quarter of sequential top line improvement compared to Q3 driven by the 53rd week as well as ongoing execution across our channels. In addition, we expect to continue to drive year-over-year margin expansion supported by freight tailwinds as well as our disciplined approach to inventory and expense management.
This concludes our remarks. Thank you for joining us this morning
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