Hello, welcome to the comments on the results for the second quarter ended August 2024. On slide two, we highlight the categories of operation and the main indicators for the quarter. We generated record net revenue of BRL 3.2 billion in the period, up by approximately 12% year-on-year and 13% sequentially. EBITDA stood at BRL 288 million, up 35% compared to EBITDA in the second quarter of 2023, with a margin of 8.8%. This margin is 1.5 percentage points higher compared to the same period of last year. It is worth noting that in the last 12 months, Camil's EBITDA exceeded BRL 1 billion for the first time, reinforcing not only our efforts to grow the company over the 60-plus years of existence, but our positioning as one of the largest food brand platforms in South America. In volumes, we grew 14% in sequential result, driven mainly by higher volumes of grains.
In the year-on-year comparison, however, we saw a drop of approximately 6%, mainly explained by lower sugar export volumes compared to the second quarter of 2023. We will go into more details on the next slide. Now moving on to slide three. As for Brazil's operating highlights, we start with the high turnover segment made up of grains and sugar. In the sequential comparison, growth in the category was driven by higher volumes of grains, with larger purchases by retailers in the period. This result was driven by the mismatch of the rice harvests this year, shifting a greater seasonality, usually concentrated in the first quarter of 2024, to the second quarter of the year.
In addition, the company spared no effort to be able to move production and serve our customers during the period of peak demand during the tragedy in Rio Grande do Sul this year, with deliveries concentrated in May and June of 2024. It is worth noting that Camil has been recognized as a highly renowned brand by the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office, INPI, and once again reinforcing our reputation for building prestigious and highly recognized brands. In sugar, we still face a challenging scenario from a profitability point of view. We achieved higher domestic sales volumes in the retail environment, but this effect was offset by higher sugar exports when compared to the second quarter of 2023. In the high value segment, year-on-year growth in volume was over 8%, driven by fish, pasta, and coffee.
Sequentially, we saw a drop of 1.5% due to the lower seasonality of fish sales in the period, partially offset by the growth in coffee volumes. Moving on to each business line, we highlight the launch of the Camil pasta line in São Paulo, reinforcing the strength of the Camil brand and the high quality of our products already recognized by the market. We continue to show good profitability in the pasta category. We remain confident of its growth throughout the launch of Camil. As for coffee, we recorded continued sales growth in the category, both in the sequential and annual comparison, pursuant to our strategy to grow sales of the União brand. The launch of new packaging in União Gourmet Coffee also marked the expansion of our coffee portfolio in the period, increasing the added value of the category and further boosting our União brand.
In the cookies category, we posted sequential growth in volumes and are now moving on with our plan to improve profitability and sales. In the fish category, we recorded year-on-year growth, but with a sequential reduction due to the seasonality of the category in the first quarter of the year, which had a sequential impact on high value results. Moving on to the international segment, in the sequential comparison, we had higher sales volumes in Uruguay, which boosted the category's growth on a consolidated basis. In the annual comparison, we saw a decline due to the strong comparative base we had in second quarter 2023, a period in which we had a high volume of sales in the country. It's important to highlight the good news about the international segment. We announced the first step in our intention to enter the Paraguayan rice market.
In September 2024, we signed an MOU for the acquisition of the shares of the capital stock of Villa Oliva. The transaction will drive diversification and improved competitiveness of product origination for Camil. The structure of the transaction aims to meet Camil's interest in managing only the industrial operations and assets related to the production, industrialization, processing, and sales of rice, without contemplating the ownership of real estate in rural areas. Therefore, we'll still have some conditions precedent and discussions about the structure of the operation, and we will keep the market informed about the next steps in the transaction. We are gradually working on gaining scale and profitability and maximizing the results of the new categories. We remain confident that we are on track to achieve our growth and profitability objectives. Now I'll hand over to Flávio, who will comment on the financial results for the period.
Please, Flávio, go ahead. Hello everyone. Moving on to the financial highlights of the period, as Luciano mentioned, we achieved a record net revenue of BRL 3.2 billion, an increase of approximately 12%. Cost of goods sold grew by 10%, mainly driven by the increase in high turnover. As a result, our gross profit hit a record high of BRL 698 million, with a margin of 21% in a quarter. SG&A by net revenue for the period was stable, with a 6% increase in nominal SG&A in Brazil due to the increase in volumes, with an increase in freight, marketing expenses, and G&A in personnel expenses. The international SG&A grew by 22%, mainly due to the increase in Uruguay and Chile. It is worth noting that the company continues to carry out its projects to optimize and review expenses, which has yielded good results within our scope of general and admin expenses.
We were able to maximize the synergies and profitability of the 2021 acquisition so far, exceeding our targets and reinforcing confidence in the growth of new businesses. In other operating income and expenses, we totaled BRL 2.8 million in the quarter, mainly due to revenues from rentals and provisions for losses on prepayments that were reversed, mainly as a result of amounts payable to suppliers. In terms of EBITDA, we reached BRL 288 million, an increase of 35% compared to EBITDA in the second quarter of 2023, with a margin of 8.8%, up 1.5 percentage points year-on-year. As mentioned by Luciano, it is worth noting that in the last 12 months, Camil's EBITDA exceeded BRL 1 billion for the first time, reinforcing our growth through acquisitions and organic growth in recent years. On slide seven, sequentially, we highlight the 12% increase in net revenue and 13% growth in our EBITDA.
Moving on to the debt position, the company's net debt reached BRL 3.6 billion, with net debt to EBITDA for the last 12 months of 3.5 times in the quarter. It is important to emphasize that our covenants reading is always annual, the next one being in February 2025. We always have a relevant seasonality of working capital over the quarters, more specifically in rice. Therefore, the first quarters of the year usually show greater cash consumption, while the fourth quarter usually presents a release in working capital and consequently promotes an improvement in leverage. With regard to new funding, we highlight the conclusion of the 14th issue of the debentures backed by CRA in June 2024. The issue consists of simple debentures in three series totaling BRL 650 million. CapEx for the quarter stood at BRL 66 million, with investments in pasta and coffee.
As for ESG, we are consistently pursuing the actions carried out by the company, and our most recent highlights are our entry into ISE at B3 and our direct support with basic food staples sent to the state of Rio Grande do Sul. We remain strong in our social pillar, with one of the highlights of the quarter being the continuity of the Grãos de Base Camil Business School. Additionally, in September, we published our Brazilian Governance Code report. We had 92% adherence to it, further strengthening our governance. I invite everyone to access our sustainability report and governance report for more information, both available at the CVM and on our IR website. To conclude, as Luciano has already pointed out, we are working hard to boost our efficiency and gradually grow in scale and profitability.
We are confident that we are on the right track to take the company to a new level of scale and profitability. We will be available for Q&A if you have any questions. Thank you.