Aug 6 (Reuters) - Kenvue ( KVUE ) beat Wall Street

estimates for second-quarter profit and revenue on Tuesday,

helped primarily by better-than-expected sales in its essential

health products unit that sells brands including Band-Aid,

Listerine and Carefree.

Investor expectations from the consumer health company,

which Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) spun off last year, have been

low due to weak uptake for its self-care and skin health

products. Its essential health business, however, has been a

bright spot.

The essential health unit recorded $1.26 billion in revenue

for the second quarter, up nearly 5% from a year earlier and

above analysts' average estimate of $1.24 billion, according to

LSEG data.

Essential health's adjusted operating income jumped nearly

44% to $359 million, while other segments declined.

Kenvue's ( KVUE ) skin health business, which sells brands such as

Neutrogena and Clean & Clear, was the worst performer, recording

a nearly 4% decline in sales to $1.10 billion, compared with

LSEG estimate of $1.16 billion.

Sales from self-care - its largest segment that houses

Benadryl and Tylenol - slipped 1.6% to $1.64 billion. Analysts,

on average, had expected $1.60 billion.

Kenvue ( KVUE ) has been focusing on improving sales of its skin

health products through increased marketing spend and in-store

presence, among other measures.

It raised the marketing spend for this year to up to $400

million from $300 million previously. It's the second time it

lifted the forecast, after a 15% jump in February.

The New Jersey-based company posted total second-quarter

revenue of $4 billion, above LSEG estimates of $3.94 billion.

On an adjusted basis, Kenvue ( KVUE ) posted a profit of 32 cents per

share, beating analysts' estimates by 4 cents.

The company maintained its adjusted profit forecast for the

year at between $1.10 and $1.20 per share.

(Reporting by Sneha S K and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by

Shinjini Ganguli)