UPDATE 2-MarineMax Q2 results trail Street, shares fall

* Q2 loss/shr $0.29 vs est loss/shr $0.12

* Revenue falls 15 pct

* Shares down 13 pct (Recasts; adds analyst comment, conference call details, updates share movement)

BANGALORE, April 28 (Reuters) - Boat retailer MarineMax Inc (HZO.N) posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss as bad weather in Florida, its key market, and a challenging economy dampened sales, sending its shares down 13 percent.

Inventory fell 56 percent to $173.7 million at quarter end at Marinemax, which has been aggressively cutting inventory and preserving cash to battle a tight credit environment and deteriorating consumer sentiment during the economic downturn.

Investors were more interested in topline growth at Marinemax this quarter, rather than its inventory reduction initiatives and balance sheet performance, Rochdale Securities analyst Hayley Wolff said.

"Last year was about surviving the downturn, this year is about resumption of growth," she said.

Wolff added consumers were still worried about the employment picture and conservative in spending for discretionary items like boats.

On a conference call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Michael McLamb said he expected sales to pick up during the summer season.

"April started somewhat soft, but sales have been building as we have progressed through April," McLamb said.

For the quarter ended March 31, the company posted a loss of $6.3 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with a loss of $20.3 million, or $1.09 a share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 15 percent to $110.1 million.

Analysts on average were expecting the company to post a loss of 12 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $129.5 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Same-store sales declined about 5 percent in the quarter.

"Our same-store sales decline is indicative of the challenging industry and economic conditions that we continue to face, reminding us that the industry recovery may likely be gradual," CEO William McGill said in a statement.

Shares of the Clearwater, Florida-based company were down 8 percent at $11.21 Wednesday afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange. They touched a low of $10.60 earlier in the day. (Reporting by Renju Jose in Bangalore; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott, Aradhana Aravindan)