Nelson Urdaneta
Chief Financial Officer at Kimberly-Clark
Thanks, Mike. Before I get into the second-quarter results let me take a moment to discuss the divestiture of our Brazil tissue business and the impairment of intangible assets this quarter. We closed the sale of our Brazil tissue business in June which enables us to focus even more on growing personal care. As a result of this transaction, we recorded a pre-tax gain of $74 million and $30 million of related expenses both of which are excluded from our adjusted results this quarter. I want to thank the many KCers[phonetic] who worked hard to complete this transaction.
In addition, we conducted strategic reviews forecasting and integration assessments as part of our business planning cycle. Based on updated financial projections, a pre-tax non-cash impairment charge of $658 million was recorded primarily related to intangible assets, linked to the Softex acquisition. The charges reflect revised projections for certain brands. Due to modified consumer shopping behavior post-COVID 19, inflationary pressures, and increased competitive activity in the region. We are confident in the prospects of the personal care market in Indonesia and we are committed to continue investing in this business.
Let me now turn to our second-quarter results. Net sales were $5.1 billion, up 1% Year-over-Year. Organic sales increased 5%. On a two-year basis, organic sales growth was strong across all three segments, with approximately 7% average growth for the company. Effective revenue growth management delivered favorable price realization and mix benefits while volume trends continue to improve sequentially. Net sales in the quarter we're impacted by approximately 400 basis-points of currency headwinds. Earning to our segments personal care representing approximately half of the company's revenue grew 4% organically led by mid-teens growth in feminine care and mid-single-digit growth in Adult Care.
Infant care delivered broad-based growth in the quarter with the majority of regions growing mid single digits. Operating profit for the segment improved 1%. Organic growth in consumer tissue was 4% led by a 7% growth in North America where volumes have turned positive up low-single digits in the quarter driven by Viva and Cottonelle. Operating profit for the segment was up 12%. Finally, our KC Professional business posted a 13% organic growth. All geographies grew and notably volumes turned positive in North America after six quarters of decline.
Our focus on key commercial sectors, effective digital engagement, and innovations in sustainability are fueling the momentum in KC Professional. Favorable product mix and cost-savings drove significant operating profit improvement in the quarter. Turning to the rest of the P&L. Second-quarter adjusted gross margin increased 380 basis points to 34%. Revenue growth management in addition to four savings of approximately $80 million more than offset cost inflation and currency headwinds. Cost environment remains mixed although, energy prices have moderated in some markets, they remain elevated in others.
Labor costs are structurally higher now due to cost of living adjustments and a tight job market in certain key geographies. In addition, other manufacturing costs which cover labor were $85 million higher this quarter, in line with our expectations. Between the lines, spending on an adjusted basis was 19.8% of net sales, up 190 basis points versus a year ago driven by continued investments behind our brands and our capabilities as well as the impact from inflation on our cost base. Adjusted operating profit for the quarter increased 17% and operating margin improved by 190 basis points to 14.2%. Foreign currency was a 16 percentage point headwind on operating profit in the quarter, of whichfive point were due to translation of earnings from our non-US operations.
The balance was largely from transactional impacts. We have made good progress on our margin recovery over the last few quarters and we remain committed to restoring them to pre-pandemic levels and expanding them over time. To achieve this, we are increasing our focus on productivity by building a long-term pipeline of opportunities that can generate significant end-to-end efficiencies. Lastly, the adjusted effective tax rate for the quarter was 20.5% compared to 22% in the year-ago period. Strong overall performance, along with a lower tax rate, resulted in adjusted earnings increasing by 23% to $1.65 per share. Through the first half of the year, we generated $1.4 billion in cash flow from operations.
Capital spending was $389 million compared to $470 million last year. Year-to-date, we returned $850 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Now, let me say a few words about our outlook. With our continued momentum this quarter, we are raising our full-year guidance for organic growth of 3% to 5% and adjusted EPS growth of 10% to 14%. As a reminder, our previous guidance was 2% to 4% organic growth and 6% to 10% adjusted EPS growth. The Brazil divestiture, which was not reflected in our previous outlook is expected to impact reported sales growth by approximately 100 basis points. We continue to expect currency to impact full-year top-line growth by approximately 200 basis-points.
Based on the latest estimates for the year, we now expect input costs to be a headwind of approximately $100 million, an improvement versus the midpoint of our prior outlook of $100 to $200 million. In addition, we continue to project approximately $200 million from higher wages and other manufacturing costs. Continued progress in gross margin recovery, puts us in a great position to advance our commercial programs. We expect advertising spend to increase by approximately 100 basis points for the full year. This brings us to a projected operating profit growth in the low-double-digit range and an operating margin increase of approximately 150 basis points at the midpoint of our guidance range.
We remain optimistic about the future and our ability to create long-term value for our stakeholders. We are also very proud of how our teams continue to execute our exciting growth agenda across the globe. With that, we will open the floor to questions.
