Cash Flow Activities
Operating activities — Net cash provided by operating activities was $65.6 million and $277.8 million for the first nine months of 2019 and 2018, respectively. The $212.3 million decrease was driven by lower net earnings, after adjusting for non-cash items, fluctuations in accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities primarily due to timing and anniversarying a $15.0 million income tax refund received in the third quarter last year.
Investing activities — Net cash used in investing activities was $18.4 million and $29.2 million for the first nine months of 2019 and 2018, respectively. Capital expenditures were $63.4 million for the first nine months of 2019 compared to $46.9 million for the first nine months of 2018 with the increase primarily driven by additional investments in our store fleet, technology and other corporate assets resulting from projects that shifted from fiscal 2018 to fiscal 2019. For the first nine months of 2019, net proceeds from the divestiture of a business totaled $45.0 million related to our corporate apparel business while net proceeds from the divestiture of a business for the first nine months of 2018 totaling $17.8 million related to the divestiture of MW Cleaners.
Financing activities — Net cash used in financing activities was $82.6 million and $281.4 million for the first nine months of 2019 and 2018, respectively. The $198.8 million decrease primarily reflects the impact of a reduction in debt repayments this year compared to last year.
Dividends — Cash dividends paid were $27.9 million and $27.8 million for the first nine months of 2019 and 2018, respectively.
Share repurchase program — In March 2013, the Board approved a share repurchase program for our common stock. During the third quarter of 2019, we repurchased 2,336,852 shares through open market repurchases at a cost of $10.0 million. At November 2, 2019, the remaining balance available under the Board's authorization was $38.0 million. No shares were repurchased during 2018.
Capital allocation policy update — After extensive review, on September 11, 2019, the Company announced its Board approved an update to the Company’s capital allocation policy. Effective in the fourth quarter of 2019, our quarterly cash dividend will be suspended and redeployed for accelerated debt reduction and opportunistic share repurchases. Suspending the quarterly cash dividend of $0.18 per share is expected to make available approximately $36.5 million on an annualized basis.
Future Sources and Uses of Cash
Our primary uses of cash are to finance working capital requirements of our operations and to repay our indebtedness. In addition, we will use cash to fund capital expenditures, income taxes, operating leases, share repurchases and various other commitments and obligations, as they arise.
During the first nine months of 2019, we borrowed and repaid amounts under our ABL Facility with the maximum borrowing outstanding at any point in time totaling $100.0 million.
For fiscal 2019, we now expect capital expenditures of $90.0 million to $95.0 million. Capital expenditures will include costs for store refreshes and other enhancements of our store fleet, investments in technology, and investment in other corporate assets.
Additionally, market conditions may produce attractive opportunities for us to make acquisitions. Any such acquisitions may be undertaken as an alternative to opening new stores. We may use cash on hand, together with cash flow from operations, borrowings under our Credit Facilities and issuances of debt or equity securities, to take advantage of any acquisition opportunities.
Current and future domestic and global economic conditions could negatively affect our future operating results as well as our existing cash and cash equivalents balances. In addition, conditions in the financial markets could limit our access to further capital resources, if needed, and could increase associated costs. We believe based on our current business plan that our existing cash and cash flows from operations and availability under our ABL Facility will be sufficient to fund our operating cash requirements, repayment of current indebtedness, and capital expenditures.