Heidi G. Petz
President and Chief Executive Officer at Sherwin-Williams
Thank you, Jim. First, I want to thank all 65,000 of our employees around the world for their efforts in the quarter and for their ongoing passion for our company and for our customers. I continue to be humbled and inspired by all that you do.
I believe our second quarter results demonstrate three things. One, we have the right strategy. Two, our team continues to execute and adapt. And three, we continue to see returns from our ongoing investments in the business. At the same time, we're not content with where we are by any means, and our team understands that we must continue to operate with determination and urgency. We're delivering strong results in a choppy demand environment while executing on initiatives that will put our customers and our company in position for even greater sustained success.
As far as specifics on the second quarter, I'll begin with the Paint Stores Group, where sales increased by mid single-digits against a double-digit comparison. Volume and price were both up low single-digits. As we expected price realization improved as the quarter progressed. Segment margin increased to 25.1%, driven by higher sales in moderating raws material costs. Pro sales were led by residential repaint, which was up by a mid single-digit percentage, strong evidence that we are continuing to take share in a down market. We're clearly seeing a return here from the investments in dedicated sales reps we made in the back half of last year. New residential returned to growth in the quarter as we are seeing improving single-family starts turned to completions. Commercial grew by a low single-digit against a double-digit comparison. Property management was down less than 1% with continued delays in capex projects. Protective and marine was up mid single-digits against a low 20s comparison. And while we acknowledged that there have been project delays, we feel very good about the pipeline. DIY increased low single-digits compared to a high teens comp. From a product perspective, interior paint sales grew faster than exterior paint sales. We have opened 26 net new stores year-to-date and expect to open 80 to 100 for the full year.
Moving on to our Consumer Brands Group. Sales underperformed our expectations in a market that was softer than we anticipated. Lower volume, the impact of the China Architectural Divestiture and unfavorable currency translation were partially offset by selling price increases, primarily in Latin America. Sales in North America decreased by a high single-digit percentage where weakness in existing home sales remains a headwind. Inflation, depleted savings and household debt also continue to pressure consumers, who currently appear to be spending their modest available discretionary dollars elsewhere. We understand where we are in this cycle, and eventually expect to see an upturn in DIY demand. We're confident that we are well positioned with our growing partnerships over the long-term. Outside of North America, sales decreased by a high single-digit percentage in Latin America and a double-digit percentage in Europe. Adjusted segment margin expanded to 26.1%. This was primarily driven by improvements in manufacturing and distribution fixed cost absorption within the segment and moderating raw material costs partially offset by net sales that were below expectation and higher employee related costs.
In the Performance Coatings Group, modest sales growth was driven by an acquisition which was partially offset by unfavorable currency translation. Adjusted segment margin improved to 19.4%. This continued strong margin performance reflects our ability to drive our customer success in end markets that value differentiation. It also reflects the ongoing hard work of our team to optimize this business. We continue to see choppy demand by division and region. Industrial Wood led the growth, including the impact of an acquisition. Coil also delivered solid growth, driven by share gains. Auto refinish was up low single-digits in North America and down less than a percent overall. Share gains are offsetting softness in our core business, where consumer reluctance to pay deductibles is resulting in lower insurance claims. Packaging was down less than expected, and we have a good line of sight to improvement in the back half of the year. General industrial demand was lower in all regions. Heavy equipment and transportation were down most significantly, while energy infrastructure was a bright spot. Regionally, sales in the group were down low single-digits in North America, but positive in other regions.
Moving on to our guidance for the third quarter and full year. It's clear that the macroeconomic environment has been softer for longer than many economists anticipated at the start of the year. We don't expect to get material help from the market in our back half. We are unwilling to simply accept these conditions and you can count on us to continue being very aggressive in our pursuit of new business and share of wallet gains. Sherwin-Williams is incredibly well positioned in each of our targeted end markets. Comparisons ease in our second half. Competitive dynamics are a tailwind, and we're confident share gains will become more apparent over time as market conditions improve.
As for our specific outlook, the slide deck issued with this morning's press release includes our expectations for consolidated and segment sales for the third quarter of 2024. For the full year 2024, consolidated sales are expected to be up a low single-digit percentage compared to our previous guide of up low to mid single-digits. Full year sales guidance for the Paint Stores Group and the Performance Coatings Group remain unchanged. We have reduced our consumer brands group guidance meaningfully following the softer than expected first half and continued weak demand in the North American DIY market. We are increasing our full year earnings guidance given our better-than-expected results in the second quarter. The midpoint of our previous guidance now becomes the low end of our revised guidance.
On an adjusted basis, we are now guiding diluted EPS in the range of $11.10 to $11.40 a share. An increase of 8.7% at the midpoint over the prior year. As we have often said, should our sales prove to be better than we are currently anticipating, we would expect EPS to be better. Our slide deck also provides guidance on our expectations for raw material costs and other items helpful for modeling purposes.
As we enter our second half, we know that we are not immune from choppy market conditions. This leads us to focus even more intensely on our strategy. In periods of uncertainty and competitive disarray, customers are looking to Sherwin-Williams for consistency, reliability, dependability and differentiated solutions that will drive their productivity and their profitability. We have a deep and experienced team that knows how to do just that. We believe in success by design and we do expect to win.
This concludes our prepared remarks. With that, I'd like to thank you for joining us this morning, and we'd be happy to take your questions.
