Participants

Deborah Whitmire; Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President, Treasurer; Miller Industries Inc

William Miller; President, Chief Executive Officer, Director; Miller Industries Inc

Presentation

Deborah Whitmire

Before moving to the balance sheet, I'd like to quickly recap our results for the full year of 2023. Net sales for the full year were $1.15 billion compared to $848.5 million in the prior year period, an increase of 35.9%. Gross profit for the full year was that $151.9 million or 13.2% of sales compared to $82.4 million or 9.7% of sales in 2022.
Net income for the full year of 2023 was $58.3 million or $5.07 per diluted share compared to net income for 2022 of $20.3 million or $1.78 per share increases of 186.5% and 184.8% respectively. Turning the balance sheet, cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2023, or $29.9 million compared to $26.8 million as of September 30, 2023, and $40.2 million as of December 31, 2022.
Accounts receivable as of December 31, 2023, was $286.1 million compared to $240.6 million as of September 30, 2023, and $177.7 million as of December 31, 2022. Inventories were $189.8 million as of December 31, 2023, compared to $176 million as of September 30, 2023.
And $153.7 million as of December 31, 2022. We made investments in inventory throughout 2023 to meet increasing demand levels. However, we expect our working capital to decrease throughout the balance of the year, predominantly in the form of a reduction in our inventory balance. Accounts payable as of December 31, 2023, was $191.8 million compared to $146.8 million as of December 30, 2023, and $125.5 million as of December 31, 2022.
Lastly, before I turn the call back to Will, as it relates to capital allocation, we think about 4 main buckets, investing in the business to increase capacity and improve productivity. Return of capital to our shareholders, accretive M&A and reduction of our debt. As we mentioned, we increased the dividend by 5.6%, and during the first quarter of 2024, we also paid down $5 million on our debt balance, resulting in the current balance of $55 million.
Now, I'll turn the call back over to Will for some closing remarks.

William Miller

Thank you, Debbie. Our results over the last two quarters of fiscal year 2023 have given us increased confidence in our business strategy. As top line growth has continued to improve, we are encouraged that our strategy has also yielded improved productivity and profitability.
We continue to see no slowdown in the demand of our products across any of our geographies, giving us further encouragement that 2023 is only the very beginning of what this company can achieve. While our North American business has remained strong, as evidenced by our backlog approaching $1 billion our international business is seeing signs of further improvement due to potential cleanup efforts as a result of continuing geopolitical strife.
This time last year we provided annual guidance for the first time with expectations for at least $1 billion of revenue in fiscal year 2023. With significant improvements in our year over year profitability.
Today we provide that to be true through our diligent execution for fiscal year 2024, our plan is to build upon the momentum gained in 2023 with expectations for high single digit revenue growth and continued productivity enhancements driving flow through to the bottom line. Culminating in another year of record revenue in net income.
In closing, the entire management team and I would like to thank all of our employees, suppliers, customers, and shareholders for their continued support of Miller Industries. At this time, we'd like to open the line for any questions.

Question and Answer Session

Operator

Thank you. At this time, we'll be conducting a question-and-answer session.
(Operator Instructions)
There are no questions at this time. I'd like to turn the call back over to Will Miller for closing comments.

William Miller

Thank you. I'd like to thank you all again for joining us on the call today, and we look forward to speaking with you on our first quarter conference call. If you'd like information on how to participate and ask questions on the call, please visit our investor relations website, millerind.com/investors or email investors.relations@millerind.com.
Thank you all.

Operator

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation.