I am the CAFO, Muto. I will now explain the third quarter results for the fiscal year ending March 2021. First, a summary of the overall results. Sales revenue of the Cardiac and Vascular Company was greatly affected by COVID-nineteen in the first quarter, but saw a steady recovery in the second quarter and then third quarter. Impact on the general hospital and blood cell technologies companies remained minor due to continued high demand for some products serving COVID-nineteen related needs, resulting in a 5% year on year decrease for the group as a whole and when excluding FX impact, a 3% decrease to get closer to the level of the previous fiscal year.
Adjusted operating profit continued to see negative impact from sales decline in the Cardiac and Vascular Company, while expenses naturally fell due to limitations on activities and our ongoing careful evaluation of each outlay to control expenditures. This resulted in 8% negative growth when excluding FX impact and 10% negative operating profit growth to show a notable recovery upon entering the third quarter. Profit for the year was minus 12% year on year, another indicator of recovery acceleration in the third quarter. In the third quarter, all companies saw improved product mix year on year, increasing gross profit and further leading to an acceleration of profit recovery. This resulted in Q3 being our best ever standalone quarter for sales, adjusted operating profit and operating profit.
Next slide please. This is the variance analysis of adjusted operating profit compared to the previous year. Gross profit decrement by sales decrease was reduced by the group wide positive growth of the third quarter to JPY 6,800,000,000.0, meaning that the downward impact was reduced from where it was at the end of the first half. Year. Gross margin accounted for a JPY 3,000,000,000 negative impact due to improvement in cross company mix as Cardiac and Vascular recovered and as each company improved its product mix to reduce downward impact from where it was at the end of the first half.
Price was a JPY 900,000,000 negative impact, slightly accelerated from the first half by the recovery progress of Cardiac and Vascular Company. In Q3, Japan reimbursement completed the cycle of negative impact by the revision that occurred at the previous year's October consumption tax increase, resulting in only a small increase from the first half to minus JPY 2,600,000,000.0. European MDR and IT investment progressed as planned, resulting in JPY 800,000,000 and JPY 900,000,000 negative impacts, respectively, with increased spending year on year. SG and A decrease was a JPY 6,800,000,000.0 positive impact as limitations on access to hospitals and reduced promotional and travel costs continued, in addition to our careful control of each expenditure. R and D decrease had a JPY 600,000,000 positive impact as we reconfirmed the level of priority for each project while largely maintaining R and D investment in projects that will contribute mid to long term.
FX impact was the result of yen depreciation against the euro and other currencies, shrinking the impact from where it was at the end of the first half to minus 2,400,000,000.0 yen year on year. Next slide please. Next is revenue by region. In Japan, the cardiac and vascular company is recovering steadily each quarter. The general hospital company made strong efforts to supply COVID-nineteen related products, including infection control, resulting in continuation of its positive growth from the second quarter and joining the Blood and Cell Technologies Company in recovering to the same levels as the previous year.
The region as a whole also returned to previous year levels. In Europe, Cardiac and Vascular Company continued its positive growth from the second quarter as the other two companies grew in double digits to bring the group as a whole closer to the previous year's level. In The Americas, the Cardiac and Vascular Company showed a steady recovery, but some impact from the COVID-nineteen resurgence there showed in the latter part of the third quarter. In China, the impact of distributor order timing in the neurovascular business is gradually decreasing. Looking at the third quarter on a standalone basis, it experienced mid single digit positive growth and overall showed a notable recovery.
In Asia and others, there was some negative impact due to lockdowns in some countries and each company is seeing a slow recovery. Next slide please. Next is revenue by company. Year to date, elective procedure delays continue to impact the Cardiac and Vascular Company, but recovery is occurring steadily each quarter. Looking only at the three months of the third quarter, the company was at minus 2% year on year, so nearly back to previous year levels.
The general hospital company still had impact from overall decreased demand, but the Alliance business' double digit growth, combined with a new product in pain management and increased infection control product demand exceeded negative impact, resulting in a return to positive growth. The Blood and Cell Technologies Company experienced increased demand for convalescent plasma and maintained positive growth, continuously driven by the component collection system. I will give more detail by company in the next slides. Next slide, please. Here is Cardiac and Vascular Company.
Sales revenue was minus 10 year on year, representing a steady recovery. The TIS business experienced some impact from the resurgence of COVID-nineteen in the latter part of the third quarter, but is showing a steady recovery as the number of procedures increases. The Neurovascular business turned to positive growth in the third quarter, a sign of the business returning to its usual strong growth trend. CV still saw impact from delayed elective procedures, but that was somewhat mitigated by increased sales of ECMO products in Japan. The vascular graft business continued its positive growth from the second quarter year on year, remaining steady.
In profit, there had been downward impact from reduced sales revenue, but the progress of recovery in the high profitability TIS and Neurovascular businesses improved product mix, so that the three months of the third quarter saw a drastic increase in profitability. Next slide please. Next, the general hospital company. Sales revenue continued to be impacted by limitations on patient hospital visits, but along with the double digit growth in pain management products and the Alliance business, increased demand for infection control products like thermometers and disinfectant overcame the negative impact to push the company to positive growth. In profit, growth of the high profitability healthcare products and the Alliance business improved product mix, which added to the ongoing expense controls toward increasing profit and improving profitability.
Next slide please. Next is Blood and Cell Technologies Company. In sales revenue, the Blood Center Solution business remains challenged due to a global decrease in blood donors. However, along with high COVID-nineteen related demand for convalescent plasma in Europe and The United States, a software update to raise collection efficiency contributed to increased sales of component collection systems, driving the company as a whole. In profit, continued expense controls focused on SG and A combined with progress in improving product mix with a higher proportion of component collection systems to improve profitability and raise profit drastically in this company as well.
Next slide please. I will now explain our thinking regarding the fourth quarter. As I mentioned in the explanation of results, some businesses of the Cardiac and Vascular Company did begin to see some impact from the COVID-nineteen resurgence in The U. S. And Europe in the latter part of the third quarter around December.
We are told that restrictions are being strengthened in European countries and that in The U. S. As well, over 100 hospitals are postponing electric procedures. Looking at the most recent sales results from January, they appear likely to be down 10% or so from the average of the third quarter months. However, COVID-nineteen vaccinations have begun and medical settings are raising with certainty their ability to handle the pandemic.
Therefore, we do not anticipate the same decrease in demand and negative sales impact that we saw in April and May. Regarding profit, we will begin adjusting our production level to gradually correct for inventory that we built up from a BCP perspective when the first COVID-nineteen wave hit. We believe this will be a burden on our gross profit. We will continue to control our SG and A and R and D spending as we have in recent quarters. Overall, we anticipate a slightly weaker fourth quarter than the third quarter, which saw a combination of positive factors, including good product mix, but we are hopeful to bring fourth quarter results to a level near the sales and profit of the second quarter.
Next slide please. In line with our third quarter results and thinking regarding the fourth quarter, we will revise our guidance upward. In sales revenue, taking into consideration the impact of some locations, COVID-nineteen resurgence and uncertainty in the market, we will maintain our guidance. In profit, as I explained on the previous slide, the fourth quarter does not appear to be as promising as the third, but we nevertheless saw a significant upswing in the third quarter. With that included in the overall picture, we will upwardly revise our guidance for adjusted operating profit by JPY 7,000,000,000, operating profit by JPY 7,500,000,000.0 and profit for the year by JPY 7,000,000,000.
Although the fiscal year end is only two months from now, we do expect that with vaccinations progressing, overseas sales and other activity will rise. We anticipate that this, along with the clinical trial and sales promotion tool related expenses, will result in an increase of some percentage in SG and A compared to the third quarter. However, depending on how the COVID-nineteen resurgence goes, expenditures could remain at the same level as those of the third quarter. Regarding dividends, taking into account the continuing COVID-nineteen resurgence, uncertainty and risks, we will maintain the guidance we issued in May. Next slide please.
Here are the major topics for the third quarter. We received good design awards for multiple products throughout the Terumo Group, receiving the award for the twenty fifth consecutive year. Looking at company topics, we can see that the neurovascular product web and DM related products made strategic progress. In the Alliance business, as our CEO, Sato mentioned in the first half earnings announcement, we are steadily expanding our CDMO production capacity at Terumo Yamaguchi to prepare for the growing development pipeline of that business. Next slide, please.
This is the final slide and shows our pipeline status for the fiscal year. I will omit the details, but new product launches are generally on schedule. With the COVID-nineteen resurgence and other factors, we must remain vigilant. We will continue making our best management efforts to achieve our fiscal year guidance and return towards sustainable growth. Thank you.