For the fiscal 2022 second quarter, consolidated sales increased 10.3% to $1.64 billion driven by continued robust demand for paints, coatings, sealants, and other building materials.
Our second quarter sales growth could have been even stronger if not for continuing supply chain challenges that limited access to certain raw materials and cost us roughly $200 million of lost or deferred sales in the quarter.
Organic sales growth was 8.6%, foreign currency translation provided a tailwind of 0.4% and acquisitions contributed 1.3%.
Adjusted earnings per share was $0.79 decreasing 26% compared to the strong adjusted diluted earnings per share growth of nearly 40% in the prior-year period.
Consolidated adjusted EBIT for the quarter was a $157.3 million decrease of 21%, which was in line with our outlook and as a result of continued material, wage, and freight inflation, as well as supply chain disruptions that were exacerbated by hurricane Ida.
We lost the equivalent of nearly 300 production days across RPM facilities globally during the second quarter, which was similar to our lost production days in the first quarter.
We partially offset these challenges with price increases, which average in the high single digits across RPM, and continued operational improvements from our map to growth program, which provided $19 million in incremental cost savings.
It's also worth noting that we face a difficult comparison to the prior year when consolidated adjusted EBIT increased nearly 30%.
Combined sales in these three segments increased more than 18% with roughly 10% being unit volume growth year over year while our Construction Products and Performance Coatings Group generated strong adjusted EBIT growth especially products and consumer group faced extreme supply chain constraints that put pressure on their earnings.
In addition, the consumer group faced a difficult comparison to the prior-year period when sales increased more than 21% and adjusted EBIT was up 66%.
Case in point 178,000 square foot plant we purchased in September, which is located on 120 acres in Texas.
Our Construction Products Group generated all-time record sales of $614.2 million.
Sales grew 22% for the quarter the highest rate among our four segments,19.9% was organic.
Foreign currency translation provided at 0.3% tailwind and acquisitions contributed 1.8%.
The segments adjusted EBIT increased 16.5% to a record level due to volume growth, operational improvements, and selling price increases, which helped offset material inflation.
Sales grew 16.9% to a record level reflecting organic growth of 12.2%, a foreign currency translation tailwind of 0.8% and a 3.9% contribution from acquisitions.
Adjusted EBIT increased 41.3% to a record level as a result of pricing, volume growth, operational improvements, and product mix.
Our specialty products group reported a sales increase of 10% to a record level as its businesses capitalized on the strong demand in the outdoor recreation, furniture, and OEM markets they served.
Organic sales increased 9%.
Recent acquisitions added 0.4% and foreign currency translation increased sales by 0.6%.
Adjusted EBIT decreased 29.4% due to higher raw material and conversion costs from supply disruptions, as well as unfavorable product mix.
The resulting production outages negatively impacted segment sales by approximately $100 million.
Segment sales decreased 3.3% with organic sales down 3.5% and foreign currency translation of 0.2% despite raw material shortages.
The segments fiscal 2022 second quarter sales were still 17.4% above the pre-pandemic levels of the second quarter of fiscal 2020.
As Frank mentioned in his opening comments, the consumer group also faced a challenging comparison to the prior-year period when sales increased 21.4% and adjusted EBIT increased 65.8%.
In spite of these challenges, we expect to generate double-digit consolidated sales growth in the fiscal 2022 third quarter versus last year's record third quarter sales, which increased 8.1%.
The Consumer Group faces a tough comparison to the prior-year period when its sales increased 19.8% and as a result, its sales are anticipated to increase by low single-digit.
Consolidated adjusted EBIT for the third quarter of fiscal 2022 is expected to decrease 5% to 15% versus the same period last year when adjusted EBIT was up to 29.7%.
We anticipate that earnings will be affected by ongoing raw material, freight, and wage inflation, as well as the impact of raw materials shortages, on sales volume, plus the renewed COVID disruption from the surging Omicron variant.

Summary:
For the fiscal 2022 second quarter, consolidated sales increased 10.3% to $1.64 billion driven by continued robust demand for paints, coatings, sealants, and other building materials.
Adjusted earnings per share was $0.79 decreasing 26% compared to the strong adjusted diluted earnings per share growth of nearly 40% in the prior-year period.
In spite of these challenges, we expect to generate double-digit consolidated sales growth in the fiscal 2022 third quarter versus last year's record third quarter sales, which increased 8.1%.
We anticipate that earnings will be affected by ongoing raw material, freight, and wage inflation, as well as the impact of raw materials shortages, on sales volume, plus the renewed COVID disruption from the surging Omicron variant.