(Reuters) - Swiss elevator and escalator manufacturer Schindler said on Wednesday its second-quarter net profit dived 22.4% from previous year to 239 million francs (£203 billion), dented by wage inflation, higher material costs, foreign exchange, and planned increase in expenditure on projects.

Excluding the one-time tax refund of 55 million francs that was recognised in the second quarter of 2018, Schindler's net profit dropped by 5.5%.

Sales in April-June amounted to 2.85 billion francs, about 2.4% more than 2.78 billion francs reported in the previous year.

Schindler expects net profit to reach 900 million francs to 940 million francs for the financial year 2019, compared with last year's 1.01 billion francs.

The company reiterated its 2019 guidance of revenue growth of between 4% and 6% in local currencies.

(Reporting by Bartosz Dabrowski, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)