Todd Leombruno
Chief Financial Officer at Parker-Hannifin
Okay. Thanks Jenny. As Jenny said I'm on slide 10. Our team set several records this quarter. Jenny called some of these out, but we set records for sales adjusted segment operating margin adjusted EBITDA margin and adjusted earnings per share.The sales of $4.9 billion, was an increase of 1.2% versus prior. Virtually all of that was organic. Organic growth was positive at 1.4%. There is some slight divestiture activity there unfavorable really just 0.2% and in the quarter compared to prior year currency was flat.Now we look at those segment adjusted segment operating margins, we increased those 80 basis points. We're really proud of that, on the 1.2% sales growth. EBITDA margins was a record at 24.9%. And net income ROS is 16.5%, with earnings per share at $6.20.
Those are both records as well. And both of those are an increase of 4% from prior. It was really a nice start to the fiscal year, driven by consistent execution from our global team, really focused on continuing to take cost out and drive margin expansion.If you look at slide 11, this details the increase in adjusted EPS. Again, if you can see that far outstanding operating performance along with some favorable interest expense really are the main drivers to the growth in EPS.
Segment operating income dollars increased by $54 million in the quarter that was $0.33 of the EPS growth and that was really driven by strong Aerospace performance really meaning -- being the main driver on segment operating income.Interest expense is favorable $0.13 and that really is driven through our continued execution on our debt reduction plan. And corporate G&A and income tax were also slightly favorable in the quarter.
If you look at other expense we did have a headwind of $0.26 in the quarter. This was related primarily to currency losses resulting from the re-measurement of intercompany loans and just some volatility on currency rates within the quarter. We do not expect that to continue for the remainder of the year.And also there is some slightly less favorable pension income compared to the prior year that shows up on the other line. And finally, share count was just $0.02 unfavorable. All in the adjusted EPS of $6.20 already said, it's a record, but it was really driven by strong margin expansion across the company.
If we go to slide 12, looking at the segments, we're proud of that margin expansion. We can't speak to it more enough. It's really just continued. The team continued to work on executing the Win Strategy. And I really do believe that our performance reflects how different a company Parker is today. And in spite of the low organic growth, we still generated 80 basis points of higher segment operating margins.Incrementals is unbelievably solid at 95% and orders remain positive at plus 1% and that's really driven by continued Aerospace strength.
If we look at the Diversified Industrial North American businesses sales were $2.1 billion, organic growth was negative 5%. That was lower than what our expectations were going into the quarter. We are seeing delays and some near-term pressure in the energy and In-plant & Industrial Equipment verticals Jenny mentioned some of those.
Transportation and off-highway verticals continue to be soft. But on a positive note HVAC did return to growth in the quarter. So we're happy about that. Even with that organic pressure, adjusted margins in North America increased 40 basis points to a record of 25.3% and it's really just great teamwork, resilience and operating execution. North American orders did take a step back. They were negative 3% in the quarter and we made sure that our guide reflects that pressure.Moving on to the international businesses. Sales were $1.4 billion. Organic growth was negative 2%, but that's kind of as we expected. So that's right in line with our guide. Organic growth in Asia Pacific improved to 3.2%; Latin America really positive at plus 14% but that was offset by a negative 8% in EMEA.
Really proud of the team. Operating margins matched a record high of 24.1%, so even on that negative growth in the international businesses, we achieved -- or matched a record high of 24.1%. The international team is really focused on productivity improvements cost controls and really performing well in a tough environment. On a good note, order rates did move to plus 1%, with Asia moving into positive territory driving that improved.
If we look at Aerospace Systems, the Aerospace Systems segment continues to lead the way for the company. Again, it delivered an exceptional quarter. Sales were $1.4 billion. That's 18% greater than prior year. All of that is organic roughly 17% of that growth was organic and that was driven by double-digit growth in commercial and defense markets. And of course the adjusted segment operating margin of 27.9% is a record. That's up 190 basis points over the prior year. All that performance was driven by record top line sales, strong aftermarket mix as Jenny mentioned and continued implementation and integration of the Meggitt businesses. So great work there by our Aerospace team.
Aerospace order rates continue to be positive at plus 7%. And I just want to remind everyone that we are lapping some very tough comparisons on those but we're happy that it's plus 7%. If I could draw your attention to slide 13. Cash flow performance for the quarter is also a record. CFOA was $744 million or 15.2%, that is an increase of 14% versus prior year. Free cash flow increased 17% and finished at $649 million. That is 13.2% of sales. And conversion was strong to start the year at 93%.
Within the quarter, we further reduced debt by $370 million and that drove our net debt to adjusted EBITDA to now 1.9 times. So we're happy about that. And I'm really proud of the team the way, we started the year on cash flow as a much better start than the prior year and that's due to a lot of hard work by everyone around the world. So that is a wrap on Q1 and we'll move to the outlook now.
And Jenny, I'm going to hand it back to you for some comments.
