Commenting on the fourth quarter results, Patrick S. Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer, said,
“This quarter marks a strong finish to a year in which our business teams managed through tight supply-chain, labor and inflationary challenges to deliver record quarterly sales. Aligned with good control of overhead expenses, we believe we are entering 2022 well positioned for continued operating income growth and margin expansion in all businesses.
Performance Chemicals again achieved record quarterly sales which drove a 16 percent increase in operating income over the prior year. We are executing on our plan for approximately $70 million in organic growth investments through 2023 to meet existing customer demand for our premium personal and home care technologies. Based on this customer demand and our associated organic investment we expect high single-digit annual volume growth over the medium term along with continued margin expansion from further product mix and operating leverage improvements.
Fuel Specialties achieved record quarterly sales up 19 percent on the comparable 2019 pre-COVID quarter despite the lingering impact of the COVID variants on demand. Gross margins ran below our target 32 to 35 percent range primarily due to the continued delay in jet fuel demand recovery and the lag in contract formula price increases which trail raw material cost inflation. As jet fuel demand continues to recover towards pre-COVID levels, and cost inflation moderates, we expect gross margins to return to our target range.
Oilfield Services delivered its sixth consecutive quarter of sales growth and operating margin improvement and a 59 percent sequential increase in operating income. Overall activity levels and market conditions continue to improve in all segments of our Oilfield business. As in the prior quarter, we continue to see opportunities for significant additional operating leverage, which we anticipate will lead to operating income growth and margin expansion in the coming quarters.”
Revenues in Performance Chemicals reached a quarterly record of $138.4 million, up 21 percent from $114.6 million a year ago. Volumes grew 2 percent with a positive price/mix of 21 percent offsetting an adverse currency impact of 2 percent. Gross margins decreased 2.4 percentage points from the same quarter last year to 21.4 percent as our manufacturing facilities slowed over the holiday season and we took some one-off inventory provisions. Operating income for the quarter was $16.9 million, up 16 percent from $14.6 million a year ago. For the full year, revenues were up 23 percent to $525.3 million and operating income increased 29 percent to $70.9 million.
Revenues in Fuel Specialties reached a quarterly record of $179.5 million, up 30 percent from $138.3 million a year ago. Volumes grew 10 percent with a positive price/mix of 22 percent offsetting an adverse currency impact of 2 percent. Gross margins of 27.4 percent were below our expected range and down 4.0 percentage points versus a year ago primarily due to the lag in pricing as raw material costs continue to increase. Operating income for the quarter was $25.7 million, up 1 percent from $25.5 million a year ago. For the full year, revenues were up 21 percent to $618.3 million and operating income increased 24 percent to $104.6 million.
Revenues in Oilfield Services were $95.3 million, up 65 percent from $57.9 million a year ago. Gross margins increased 0.8 percentage points from the same quarter last year to 35.9 percent. Operating income increased $4.1 million to $4.3 million. For the full year, revenues were up 33 percent to $339.8 million and operating income increased $19.9 million to $10.4 million.
Corporate costs for the quarter were $13.2 million compared with $10.7 million a year ago, due mainly to higher compensation accruals.
The full year effective tax rate was 30.7 percent compared to 27.7 percent in 2020. The adjusted effective tax rate was 22.7 percent compared to 23.5 percent last year as a consequence of the geographical location of taxable profits.
For the quarter cash from operations after net capital expenditure was $59.6 million compared to $50.2 million a year ago. For the full year, cash from operations after net capital expenditure was $57.0 million compared to $116.2 million in 2020. As of December 31, 2021, Innospec had net cash of $141.7 million compared to net cash of $104.7 million a year ago.
Mr. Williams concluded,
“We believe that Innospec’s excellent fourth quarter performance leaves us well positioned for continued improvement in 2022. We exit the year with record quarterly sales and an outlook that we feel is favorable to further