the gross margin improvement was principally led by the performance materials , t/a fibers and technical nonwovens segments , partially offset by lower gross margin in the t/a metals segment due to operating inefficiencies . operating income was $ 54.8 million , or 9.7 % of net sales in 2016 , compared to $ 52.5 million , or 10.0 % of net sales in 2015 ; the increase in operating income of $ 2.3 million is summarized in the following table : replace_table_token_5_th the sales/operational component of the change in consolidated operating income was primarily attributed to the t/a fibers and performance materials segments , which increased $ 4.4 million and $ 4.2 million , respectively , in 2016 compared to 2015 due to increased net sales and improved gross margins , partially offset by increased corporate office expenses . net income was $ 37.2 million , or $ 2.16 per diluted share , compared to $ 46.3 million , or $ 2.71 per diluted share in 2015 . 2016 net income : ◦ included $ 3.5 million , or $ 0.20 per diluted share , related to the german cartel settlement expense ◦ included $ 2.9 million , or $ 0.17 per diluted share , related to acquisition costs ◦ included $ 1.4 million , or $ 0.08 per diluted share , related to inventory step-up adjustments on acquisitions 2015 net income : ◦ included $ 11.8 million , or $ 0.69 per diluted share , from the sale of the life sciences vital fluids business on january 30 , 2015 ◦ included $ 1.4 million , or $ 0.08 per diluted share , related to the long-lived asset impairment charge acquisitions on july 7 , 2016 , the company completed an acquisition of the nonwoven and coating materials businesses primarily operating under the texel brand ( “ texel ” ) from ads , inc. ( “ ads ” ) , a canadian based corporation . the texel operations manufacture nonwoven needle punch materials and predominantly serve the geosynthetic , liquid filtration , and other industrial markets . the acquired businesses are included in the company 's technical nonwovens reporting segment . on december 31 , 2016 , the company completed an acquisition of the nonwoven needle punch materials businesses , operating under the gutsche ( “ gutsche ” ) brand , a german based corporation . the gutsche operations manufacture nonwoven needle punch materials and predominantly serve the industrial filtration and high performance nonwoven markets . the acquired businesses are included in the company 's technical nonwovens reporting segment . story_separator_special_tag nonwovens segments and lower cost of sales of $ 12.5 million from the divested life sciences vital fluids business which was sold on january 30 , 2015. these decreases to cost of sales were partially offset by increases in cost of sales of $ 18.0 million in the technical nonwovens segment , as the segment was created upon the acquisition of the filtration businesses of andrews industries , limited on february 20 , 2014. also , cost of sales increased by $ 1.8 million in the t/a fibers segment due to higher sales volumes . the increases to cost of sales in the technical nonwovens and t/a fibers segments were partially offset by lower raw material sourcing costs and improved product mix . 21 gross profit replace_table_token_8_th the increase in gross margin by 100 basis points in 2016 compared to 2015 was primarily attributable to the performance materials segment as a result of favorable mix of product sales and improved absorption of fixed costs on higher sales volumes , increasing consolidated gross margin by approximately 60 basis points . additionally , the t/a fibers segment favorably impacted consolidated gross margin by approximately 50 basis points , primarily as a result of lower raw material costs , improved material productivity and favorable product mix , partially offset by lower pricing . the technical nonwovens segment favorably impacted consolidated gross margin by approximately 30 basis points , which included the negative impact of a $ 2.0 million , or 30 basis point , purchase accounting adjustment relating to inventory step-up in 2016 , offset by lower raw material costs and favorable product mix . the t/a metals segment negatively impacted consolidated gross margin by approximately 60 basis points , primarily as a result of higher labor and overhead costs , including inefficiencies associated with new platform launches , partially offset by favorable product mix in 2016 compared to 2015. the increase in gross margin by 190 basis points in 2015 compared to 2014 was primarily attributable to improved gross margin in the t/a fibers segment , which favorably impacted consolidated gross margin by approximately 110 basis points , as a result of lower raw material costs , a favorable mix of product sales and labor efficiencies . gross margin improved in the industrial filtration segment in 2015 compared to 2014 impacting consolidated gross margin by 50 basis points primarily due to the negative impact in 2014 of a $ 2.1 million , or 40 basis points , inventory purchase accounting adjustment associated with the andrews industries acquisition . the life sciences vital fluids business , which was sold in the first quarter of 2015 , negatively impacted consolidated gross margin by approximately 25 basis points in 2015 compared to 2014. selling , product development and administrative expenses replace_table_token_9_th selling , product development and administrative expenses in 2016 increased by $ 13.7 million , or 19.6 % , compared to 2015. contributing to this increase was the acquisition of texel in 2016 that increased expenses by $ 4.4 million , as there were no texel expenses in 2015. all other selling , product development and administrative expenses increased $ 9.4 million , or 13.4 % , in 2016 compared to 2015. this increase included $ 3.7 million of corporate office acquisition related expenses associated with the texel and gutsche acquisitions and a $ 3.5 million settlement charge in the fourth story_separator_special_tag after considering the impact of the inventory step-up adjustment in 2014 , the increase in operating margin in 2015 of approximately 190 basis points compared to 2014 was primarily related to the sale of automotive rolled-goods to the t/a fibers segment , lower raw material costs and a favorable mix of product sales . foreign currency translation had minimal impact on operating income in 2015 compared to 2014. thermal/acoustical metals segment segment net sales increased by $ 14.0 million , or 8.7 % , in 2016 compared to 2015. parts net sales increased by $ 15.1 million , or 10.7 % , in 2016 compared to 2015 , due to increased demand and new platform launches from customers served by the company 's north american and chinese automotive operations , offset to some extent by lower market share related to customers served by the company 's european automotive operations . the increase in segment net sales was partially offset by a decrease in tooling net sales of $ 1.0 million , or 5.2 % , in 2016 compared to 2015. foreign currency translation negatively impacted net sales by $ 0.6 million , or 0.4 % , in 2016 compared to 2015. the thermal/acoustical metals segment reported 2016 operating income of $ 11.6 million , or 6.6 % of net sales , compared to $ 15.5 million , or 9.6 % of net sales , in 2015. the decrease of $ 3.9 million was principally due to an increase in selling , product development and administrative costs of $ 4.0 million in 2016 compared to 2015 , primarily related to a $ 3.5 million settlement agreed to in the fourth quarter of 2016 with the german cartel office . in addition , salaries and benefits increased $ 0.6 million in 2016 compared to 2015. the decrease in operating income as a percentage of net sales of 300 basis points was primarily due to lower gross margins of approximately 140 basis points due to operating inefficiencies causing higher labor and overhead costs to meet increased demand in north america and changing product mix in europe . foreign currency translation had a minimal impact on operating income in 2016 compared to 2015. segment net sales decreased by $ 3.3 million , or 2.0 % , in 2015 compared to 2014. foreign currency translation negatively impacted net sales by $ 17.1 million , or 10.4 % , in 2015 compared to 2014. automotive parts net sales decreased by $ 4.0 million , or 2.8 % , in 2015 compared to 2014 , due to unfavorable foreign currency translation of $ 14.7 million , or 10.1 % of net sales . excluding the negative impact of foreign currency translation , automotive part net sales increased by $ 10.7 million , or 7.4 % , compared to 2014 , due to increased demand from customers served by the company 's european and , to a lesser extent , north american and chinese automotive operations . tooling net sales increased by $ 0.7 million , or 3.6 % , in 2015 compared to 2014. excluding the negative impact of foreign currency translation , tooling net sales increased $ 3.1 million , or 16.3 % , due to the timing of new product launches . the thermal/acoustical metals segment reported 2015 operating income of $ 15.5 million , or 9.6 % of net sales , compared to $ 13.8 million , or 8.4 % of net sales , in 2014. the increase of $ 1.7 million was due to a decrease in selling , product development and administrative costs of $ 3.0 million in 2015 compared to 2014. this decrease was primarily related to a $ 2.9 million commission settlement associated with the 2014 termination of a long-standing third party commercial sales agreement in europe , and a decrease in professional service expenses of $ 0.4 million . partially offsetting the reduction in expenses was foreign currency translation which had a negative impact on operating income of $ 1.6 million , or 1.0 % of net sales in 2015 compared to 2014. operational inefficiencies at the company 's chinese facility resulted in a negative impact to operating margin of approximately 120 and 140 basis points in 2015 and 2014 , respectively . 27 thermal/acoustical fibers segment segment net sales increased by $ 10.7 million , or 7.7 % , in 2016 compared to 2015. parts net sales increased by $ 8.8 million , or 6.5 % , in 2016 compared to 2015. the increase in parts net sales was driven by higher consumer demand for vehicles in north america on lydall 's existing platforms and new platform awards and to a lesser extent , the impact of a key customer planned shut-down in the beginning of 2015. tooling net sales increased $ 1.9 million , or 60.8 % , in 2016 compared to 2015 due to timing of new product launches . domestic automobile production increased 2.0 % in 2016 compared to 2015. the thermal/acoustical fibers segment reported 2016 operating income of $ 41.5 million , or 27.7 % of net sales , compared to operating income of $ 37.1 million , or 26.7 % , in 2015. the increase in operating income was primarily attributable to increased parts net sales and gross margin improvement of approximately 150 basis points as a result of lower raw material sourcing costs , improved material productivity and favorable mix of product sales , partially offset by lower pricing with customers . segment selling , product development and administrative expenses increased by $ 1.2 million in 2016 compared to 2015 primarily due to higher salaries and benefits of $ 0.8 million and increased product development expenses of $ 0.3 million . segment net sales increased by $ 10.2 million , or 7.9 % , in 2015 compared to 2014. automotive parts net sales increased by $ 11.1 million , or 8.9 % , in 2015 compared to 2014. higher volumes of parts

liquidity on july 7 , 2016 , the company amended its $ 100 million senior secured revolving credit facility to increase the available borrowing from $ 100 million to $ 175 million , added a fourth lender and extended the maturity date from january 31 , 2019 to july 7 , 2021. the company borrowed $ 116.6 million from this amended credit facility ( for a total of $ 126.6 million outstanding as of december 31 , 2016 ) to fund the texel and gutsche acquisitions . as a result , the company 's leverage ratio at december 31 , 2016 was 1.6 to 1.0 , which was below the maximum allowed ratio of debt to ebitda of 3.0 to 1.0. the amended credit facility provides additional capacity to support organic growth programs , fund capital investments and continue the pursuit of attractive acquisitions intended to drive profitable growth . 19 the company generated cash from operating activities of $ 69.7 million in 2016 compared to $ 36.1 million in 2015 , an increase of $ 33.6 million driven by improved operating performance , working capital management and cash flows from the texel acquisition . outlook entering 2017 , overall demand in the company 's end markets remains solid , including early signs of stabilization and improvement in the power generation and energy space where technical nonwovens has faced market weakness since early 2016. the company is encouraged by improving order activity and increased backlog entering the year in these industrial filtration focused applications . the company expects demand in its automotive segments to be steady with recent periods as the company benefits from the relative strength of the platforms it serves . in the performance materials segment , the company expects improved demand to continue in its filtration markets , and in the insulation space , the company is experiencing early signs of increased quoting activity in liquid natural gas and energy related applications .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```liquidity on july 7 , 2016 , the company amended its $ 100 million senior secured revolving credit facility to increase the available borrowing from $ 100 million to $ 175 million , added a fourth lender and extended the maturity date from january 31 , 2019 to july 7 , 2021. the company borrowed $ 116.6 million from this amended credit facility ( for a total of $ 126.6 million outstanding as of december 31 , 2016 ) to fund the texel and gutsche acquisitions . as a result , the company 's leverage ratio at december 31 , 2016 was 1.6 to 1.0 , which was below the maximum allowed ratio of debt to ebitda of 3.0 to 1.0. the amended credit facility provides additional capacity to support organic growth programs , fund capital investments and continue the pursuit of attractive acquisitions intended to drive profitable growth . 19 the company generated cash from operating activities of $ 69.7 million in 2016 compared to $ 36.1 million in 2015 , an increase of $ 33.6 million driven by improved operating performance , working capital management and cash flows from the texel acquisition . outlook entering 2017 , overall demand in the company 's end markets remains solid , including early signs of stabilization and improvement in the power generation and energy space where technical nonwovens has faced market weakness since early 2016. the company is encouraged by improving order activity and increased backlog entering the year in these industrial filtration focused applications . the company expects demand in its automotive segments to be steady with recent periods as the company benefits from the relative strength of the platforms it serves . in the performance materials segment , the company expects improved demand to continue in its filtration markets , and in the insulation space , the company is experiencing early signs of increased quoting activity in liquid natural gas and energy related applications .
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 Suspicious Activity Report : the gross margin improvement was principally led by the performance materials , t/a fibers and technical nonwovens segments , partially offset by lower gross margin in the t/a metals segment due to operating inefficiencies . operating income was $ 54.8 million , or 9.7 % of net sales in 2016 , compared to $ 52.5 million , or 10.0 % of net sales in 2015 ; the increase in operating income of $ 2.3 million is summarized in the following table : replace_table_token_5_th the sales/operational component of the change in consolidated operating income was primarily attributed to the t/a fibers and performance materials segments , which increased $ 4.4 million and $ 4.2 million , respectively , in 2016 compared to 2015 due to increased net sales and improved gross margins , partially offset by increased corporate office expenses . net income was $ 37.2 million , or $ 2.16 per diluted share , compared to $ 46.3 million , or $ 2.71 per diluted share in 2015 . 2016 net income : ◦ included $ 3.5 million , or $ 0.20 per diluted share , related to the german cartel settlement expense ◦ included $ 2.9 million , or $ 0.17 per diluted share , related to acquisition costs ◦ included $ 1.4 million , or $ 0.08 per diluted share , related to inventory step-up adjustments on acquisitions 2015 net income : ◦ included $ 11.8 million , or $ 0.69 per diluted share , from the sale of the life sciences vital fluids business on january 30 , 2015 ◦ included $ 1.4 million , or $ 0.08 per diluted share , related to the long-lived asset impairment charge acquisitions on july 7 , 2016 , the company completed an acquisition of the nonwoven and coating materials businesses primarily operating under the texel brand ( “ texel ” ) from ads , inc. ( “ ads ” ) , a canadian based corporation . the texel operations manufacture nonwoven needle punch materials and predominantly serve the geosynthetic , liquid filtration , and other industrial markets . the acquired businesses are included in the company 's technical nonwovens reporting segment . on december 31 , 2016 , the company completed an acquisition of the nonwoven needle punch materials businesses , operating under the gutsche ( “ gutsche ” ) brand , a german based corporation . the gutsche operations manufacture nonwoven needle punch materials and predominantly serve the industrial filtration and high performance nonwoven markets . the acquired businesses are included in the company 's technical nonwovens reporting segment . story_separator_special_tag nonwovens segments and lower cost of sales of $ 12.5 million from the divested life sciences vital fluids business which was sold on january 30 , 2015. these decreases to cost of sales were partially offset by increases in cost of sales of $ 18.0 million in the technical nonwovens segment , as the segment was created upon the acquisition of the filtration businesses of andrews industries , limited on february 20 , 2014. also , cost of sales increased by $ 1.8 million in the t/a fibers segment due to higher sales volumes . the increases to cost of sales in the technical nonwovens and t/a fibers segments were partially offset by lower raw material sourcing costs and improved product mix . 21 gross profit replace_table_token_8_th the increase in gross margin by 100 basis points in 2016 compared to 2015 was primarily attributable to the performance materials segment as a result of favorable mix of product sales and improved absorption of fixed costs on higher sales volumes , increasing consolidated gross margin by approximately 60 basis points . additionally , the t/a fibers segment favorably impacted consolidated gross margin by approximately 50 basis points , primarily as a result of lower raw material costs , improved material productivity and favorable product mix , partially offset by lower pricing . the technical nonwovens segment favorably impacted consolidated gross margin by approximately 30 basis points , which included the negative impact of a $ 2.0 million , or 30 basis point , purchase accounting adjustment relating to inventory step-up in 2016 , offset by lower raw material costs and favorable product mix . the t/a metals segment negatively impacted consolidated gross margin by approximately 60 basis points , primarily as a result of higher labor and overhead costs , including inefficiencies associated with new platform launches , partially offset by favorable product mix in 2016 compared to 2015. the increase in gross margin by 190 basis points in 2015 compared to 2014 was primarily attributable to improved gross margin in the t/a fibers segment , which favorably impacted consolidated gross margin by approximately 110 basis points , as a result of lower raw material costs , a favorable mix of product sales and labor efficiencies . gross margin improved in the industrial filtration segment in 2015 compared to 2014 impacting consolidated gross margin by 50 basis points primarily due to the negative impact in 2014 of a $ 2.1 million , or 40 basis points , inventory purchase accounting adjustment associated with the andrews industries acquisition . the life sciences vital fluids business , which was sold in the first quarter of 2015 , negatively impacted consolidated gross margin by approximately 25 basis points in 2015 compared to 2014. selling , product development and administrative expenses replace_table_token_9_th selling , product development and administrative expenses in 2016 increased by $ 13.7 million , or 19.6 % , compared to 2015. contributing to this increase was the acquisition of texel in 2016 that increased expenses by $ 4.4 million , as there were no texel expenses in 2015. all other selling , product development and administrative expenses increased $ 9.4 million , or 13.4 % , in 2016 compared to 2015. this increase included $ 3.7 million of corporate office acquisition related expenses associated with the texel and gutsche acquisitions and a $ 3.5 million settlement charge in the fourth story_separator_special_tag after considering the impact of the inventory step-up adjustment in 2014 , the increase in operating margin in 2015 of approximately 190 basis points compared to 2014 was primarily related to the sale of automotive rolled-goods to the t/a fibers segment , lower raw material costs and a favorable mix of product sales . foreign currency translation had minimal impact on operating income in 2015 compared to 2014. thermal/acoustical metals segment segment net sales increased by $ 14.0 million , or 8.7 % , in 2016 compared to 2015. parts net sales increased by $ 15.1 million , or 10.7 % , in 2016 compared to 2015 , due to increased demand and new platform launches from customers served by the company 's north american and chinese automotive operations , offset to some extent by lower market share related to customers served by the company 's european automotive operations . the increase in segment net sales was partially offset by a decrease in tooling net sales of $ 1.0 million , or 5.2 % , in 2016 compared to 2015. foreign currency translation negatively impacted net sales by $ 0.6 million , or 0.4 % , in 2016 compared to 2015. the thermal/acoustical metals segment reported 2016 operating income of $ 11.6 million , or 6.6 % of net sales , compared to $ 15.5 million , or 9.6 % of net sales , in 2015. the decrease of $ 3.9 million was principally due to an increase in selling , product development and administrative costs of $ 4.0 million in 2016 compared to 2015 , primarily related to a $ 3.5 million settlement agreed to in the fourth quarter of 2016 with the german cartel office . in addition , salaries and benefits increased $ 0.6 million in 2016 compared to 2015. the decrease in operating income as a percentage of net sales of 300 basis points was primarily due to lower gross margins of approximately 140 basis points due to operating inefficiencies causing higher labor and overhead costs to meet increased demand in north america and changing product mix in europe . foreign currency translation had a minimal impact on operating income in 2016 compared to 2015. segment net sales decreased by $ 3.3 million , or 2.0 % , in 2015 compared to 2014. foreign currency translation negatively impacted net sales by $ 17.1 million , or 10.4 % , in 2015 compared to 2014. automotive parts net sales decreased by $ 4.0 million , or 2.8 % , in 2015 compared to 2014 , due to unfavorable foreign currency translation of $ 14.7 million , or 10.1 % of net sales . excluding the negative impact of foreign currency translation , automotive part net sales increased by $ 10.7 million , or 7.4 % , compared to 2014 , due to increased demand from customers served by the company 's european and , to a lesser extent , north american and chinese automotive operations . tooling net sales increased by $ 0.7 million , or 3.6 % , in 2015 compared to 2014. excluding the negative impact of foreign currency translation , tooling net sales increased $ 3.1 million , or 16.3 % , due to the timing of new product launches . the thermal/acoustical metals segment reported 2015 operating income of $ 15.5 million , or 9.6 % of net sales , compared to $ 13.8 million , or 8.4 % of net sales , in 2014. the increase of $ 1.7 million was due to a decrease in selling , product development and administrative costs of $ 3.0 million in 2015 compared to 2014. this decrease was primarily related to a $ 2.9 million commission settlement associated with the 2014 termination of a long-standing third party commercial sales agreement in europe , and a decrease in professional service expenses of $ 0.4 million . partially offsetting the reduction in expenses was foreign currency translation which had a negative impact on operating income of $ 1.6 million , or 1.0 % of net sales in 2015 compared to 2014. operational inefficiencies at the company 's chinese facility resulted in a negative impact to operating margin of approximately 120 and 140 basis points in 2015 and 2014 , respectively . 27 thermal/acoustical fibers segment segment net sales increased by $ 10.7 million , or 7.7 % , in 2016 compared to 2015. parts net sales increased by $ 8.8 million , or 6.5 % , in 2016 compared to 2015. the increase in parts net sales was driven by higher consumer demand for vehicles in north america on lydall 's existing platforms and new platform awards and to a lesser extent , the impact of a key customer planned shut-down in the beginning of 2015. tooling net sales increased $ 1.9 million , or 60.8 % , in 2016 compared to 2015 due to timing of new product launches . domestic automobile production increased 2.0 % in 2016 compared to 2015. the thermal/acoustical fibers segment reported 2016 operating income of $ 41.5 million , or 27.7 % of net sales , compared to operating income of $ 37.1 million , or 26.7 % , in 2015. the increase in operating income was primarily attributable to increased parts net sales and gross margin improvement of approximately 150 basis points as a result of lower raw material sourcing costs , improved material productivity and favorable mix of product sales , partially offset by lower pricing with customers . segment selling , product development and administrative expenses increased by $ 1.2 million in 2016 compared to 2015 primarily due to higher salaries and benefits of $ 0.8 million and increased product development expenses of $ 0.3 million . segment net sales increased by $ 10.2 million , or 7.9 % , in 2015 compared to 2014. automotive parts net sales increased by $ 11.1 million , or 8.9 % , in 2015 compared to 2014. higher volumes of parts

