First, the Lift Truck business generated operating profit of $65 million, marking an $80 million improvement over a third quarter 2022 loss. Significant product margin increases across all geographies, along with favorable currency movements, were the principal drivers. Product margins increased for several reasons. First, improving supply chains, especially in the Americas, allowed for higher production rates of units priced above prior year levels. Second, material costs decreased versus prior year, led by the Americas. And finally, we saw a favorable mix shift towards higher-margin products in all regions, as well as a shift to higher-margin sales channels. Lift Truck profit growth was partly tempered by higher employee-related, product liability and warranty expenses.
Despite overhead cost increases in the third quarter, we remain vigilant over our cost and continue to seek more efficient ways to leverage our assets as the business grows. Turning to Bolzoni. We reported a 13% revenue increase while operating profit improved to a $2.9 million versus the prior year loss. Higher revenue and operating profit were a result of increased sales volumes and a significantly improved price-to-cost ratio. Manufacturing efficiencies from higher volumes were partly offset by a mix shift to lower-priced, lower-margin products and higher employee-related expenses. At Nuvera, third quarter revenues increased versus prior year due to a shipment of 12 engines required for a hydrogen bus fleet build-out. This growth was partly offset by lower aftermarket component and engine sales to the Lift Truck business.
While revenues improved, Nuvera’s operating loss increased modestly year-over-year mainly due to increased development costs for new products and higher employee-related costs. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, we expect our higher-margin backlog to support increased Lift Truck revenues over the prior year. We anticipate this increase to drive a fourth quarter operating profit improvement compared to 2022’s profitable fourth quarter. Sequentially, we expect fourth quarter profits to decrease somewhat from strong third quarter levels due to an anticipated mix shift toward lower-margin sales channels along with higher manufacturing and operating costs. Operating expenses as a percent of sales should hold steady with the third quarter’s rate.
In 2024, we expect Lift Truck operating profit to be similar to 2023 with unit margins continuing at healthy levels. Moving to Bolzoni. We anticipate fourth quarter operating profit to increase over the prior year’s fourth quarter due to ongoing cost discipline. Fourth quarter operating profit should be comparable to the third quarter’s level. In 2024, Bolzoni expects operating profit to increase year-over-year with improved unit margins more than offsetting higher costs. Finally, Nuvera is focused on increasing product demonstrations and bookings in future periods. As they continue to expand their global presence, recurring orders from current customers are expected to result in higher fourth quarter and full-year 2024 sales compared with prior year periods.
The business anticipates its fourth quarter loss to narrow compared with prior year largely due to higher expected shipments and the anticipated receipt of government funding for fuel cell research and development. In 2024, Nuvera’s higher expected sales, coupled with moderately higher development costs, should produce operating results comparable to 2023. Longer term, increasing engine demonstrations will significantly strengthen the foundation for future fuel cell engine technology adoption and improve financial returns. At the consolidated level, we expect fourth quarter operating profit and net income to improve significantly compared to a profitable fourth quarter 2022, but be below third quarter 2023 levels. For full-year 2024, we expect profitability levels similar to 2023.
We’ve made substantial progress toward our long-term goals of a 7% operating profit margin and a greater than 20% return on total capital employed or ROTCE at the combined Lift Truck and Bolzoni businesses. In fact, the Lift Truck business exceeded 20% ROTCE for the 12-months ended on September 30. While market uncertainties remain, we expect to make further progress in 2024 on our financial goals and look to sustain the business at these levels moving forward. Moving from returns to cash flow. We made progress during the quarter on improving working capital efficiency and cash generation. During the third quarter, we reduced our net debt by $44 million, compared to June 30. This was largely due to working capital improvements. As a result, our cash balance increased to $78 million.
