Brazil's TAM posts Q2 loss on surge in expenses

* Net loss of 154 mln reais reverses year-ago profit

* EBITDAR jumps 76 pct from year-ago

* Financial expenses double, leading to loss

By Guillermo Parra-Bernal

SAO PAULO, Aug 12 (Reuters) - TAM (TAMM4.SA)(TAM.N), Brazil's largest airline, posted on Thursday a net loss in the second quarter after financial expenses doubled from a year earlier.

The Sao Paulo-based company, controlled by the Amaro family, reported a net loss of 154.1 million reais ($87 million) in the second quarter, compared with a profit of 555.1 million reais a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing.

Revenue rose 15 percent to 2.61 billion reais on a year-on-year basis, driven by a 33 percent increase in freight revenues, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operational expenses were up 6.3 percent to 2.58 billion reais, led by a 37 percent surge in the cost of fuel.

The company estimates 14 percent to 18 percent growth in the domestic travel market this year.

Financial expenses including debt-servicing doubled to 507 million reais, dragging the company's quarterly results into a loss. Bets on derivatives contracts linked to fuel prices and and the cost of contracts for airplane leases yielded a 57.2-million-real shortfall, compared with a surplus of 311 million in the second quarter of 2009.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and lease rentals, a gauge of operational profit in the industry known as EBITDAR, surged 76 percent to 289.2 million reais from 164.7 million reais a year earlier.

TAM's shares fell 0.5 percent to 28.36 reais on Thursday in Sao Paulo trading.

($1=1.778 reais) (Editing by Gary Hill)