UPDATE 1-Penford to review strategic alternatives, posts Q2 loss

* Q2 loss $1.98/shr vs. profit $0.21/shr last year

* Results hit by $13.8 mln goodwill impairment charge

* Retains Merrill Lynch to review strategic alternatives

April 9 (Reuters) - Diversified chemicals company Penford Corp (PENX.O) said it retained Merrill Lynch to assist in reviewing strategic alternatives and reported a second-quarter loss, hurt by a goodwill impairment charge and lower volumes of industrial starch.

The company said non-binding expressions of interest from multiple parties for all or parts of Penford Australia and New Zealand Limited have been received or are in the process of being submitted for consideration.

For the second quarter, Penford posted a net loss of $22.2 million, or $1.98 a share, compared with a net income of $2.3 million, or 21 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

Sales fell 9.2 percent to $79.8 million due to a drop in Australian foreign currency exchange rates, lower demand for industrial starches serving paper markets and volume changes in the Australian operations.

Analysts on average expected the company to report a loss of 16 cents a share on revenue of $88.40 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Penford shares, which have lost 73 percent of their value in the last three months, closed at $3.20 Wednesday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by R. Manikandan in Bangalore; Editing by Jarshad Kakkrakandy)