July 29 (Reuters) - Water solutions company Ecolab ( ECL )

on Tuesday posted an adjusted profit for the second

quarter that narrowly missed Wall Street estimates, hit by

reduced demand for its services that include cleaning,

sanitization and cooling.

Ecolab's ( ECL ) shares fell 2.88% to $262 in premarket trading.

The company forecast third-quarter adjusted profit between

$2.02 and $2.12 per share, the mid-point of which is in line

with analysts' estimate of $2.07 per share, according to data

compiled by LSEG data.

Ecolab ( ECL ) said that in the near-term, the global operating

environment remains unpredictable, characterized by constantly

evolving end-market demand and impacts from geopolitics and

international trade policy.

President Donald Trump's tariffs on U.S. trade partners and

the retaliatory levies from countries such as China have

threatened a rise in raw material costs for companies such as

Ecolab ( ECL ).

"I see little impact to Ecolab ( ECL ) from tariffs. They already

implemented surge pricing to account for tariffs, so any tariff

impacts should be more of a pass through cost for Ecolab ( ECL ),"

Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein had said prior to the

earnings announcement.

Sales at the company's global institutional and specialty

segment, which makes cleaning and sanitizing products for

customers such as quick-serving restaurant chains and food

retailers, fell 2.4% to $1.51 billion in the second quarter,

from a year earlier.

However, sales from the global water unit, Ecolab's ( ECL ) biggest

segment that provides water treatment and cleaning solutions to

large industrial customers, rose 2.4% to $1.91 billion from last

year.

The Saint Paul, Minnesota-based company posted a profit of

$1.89 per share on an adjusted basis for the three months ended

June 30, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.90.