UPDATE 1-Verso Paper Q2 loss wider than expected

* Q2 ex-items loss $0.82 vs est. of $0.57

* Q2 revenue up 35 pct

* Sees sequential improvement in pricing in Q3

Aug 11 (Reuters) - Verso Paper Corp (VRS.N), a supplier of coated paper to catalogs and magazine publishers, posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, but expects continued sequential improvement in prices in the third quarter.

In the latest second quarter, the company posted a net loss of $44.3 million, or 85 cents a share, compared with a loss of $10.2 million, or 20 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding items, the company lost 82 cents a share.

Quarterly revenue rose 35 percent to $401.1 million.

Analysts, on average, were looking for a loss of 57 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $389.3 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Verso said coated paper prices in the latest quarter were below last year's second-quarter levels, but rose from the first quarter as the company started implementing price increases totaling $70-$90 per ton.

Shares of the Memphis, Tennessee-based company closed at $3.09 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Antonita Madonna Devotta in Bangalore; Editing by Aradhana Aravindan)