UPDATE 2-OfficeMax reports second quarter loss; shares fall

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 29 (Reuters) - Retailer OfficeMax Inc (OMX.N) reported a steep loss on Tuesday, after a year-ago profit, due to one-time charges from impairment of goodwill and intangible assets and severance costs, and shares fell 15 percent.

Adjusted earnings beat Wall Street estimates, but executives cited a "difficult sales environment" that hurt results.

Small business owners have cut back on spending in the weak U.S. economy, hurting results throughout the office supply sector.

A second quarter net loss was $894.2 million, or $11.79 per share, compared with net income of $27.4 million, or 35 cents per share, a year earlier.

The one-time items included a $935.3 million charge related to the impairment of goodwill and intangible assets, a $10.2 million charge related to employee severance stemming from the reorganization of retail store management, and a gain of $3.1 million related to a business sold in 2004.

Excluding these items, earnings were 25 cents, above the 19 cents per share expected, on average, by Wall Street, according to Reuters Estimates.

Total sales fell 6.9 percent in the quarter to $1.98 billion, lower than the $2.02 billion expected, on average, by analysts.

Sales in OfficeMax's retail and contract divisions, fell 6.7 percent and 7.1 percent respectively.

"Sales for both our contract and retail segments continued to reflect the weaker U.S. economic environment along with our more disciplined approach to customer acquisition and retention," said Chief Executive Sam Duncan in a statement.

Earlier this month, competitor Office Depot Inc (ODP.N) posted lower total sales in its fiscal second quarter and said that same-store sales, a key gauge of retail performance, fell 10 percent.

Staples, the largest U.S. office supplies retailer, has also seen weakening results amid slowing job growth, the housing downturn and the credit crunch, but it reported higher profit in its most recent quarter and stood by its outlook for the year.

Shares of OfficeMax fell to $12 in after-hours trading after closing at $14.11, up 6.6 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Alexandria Sage, editing by Phil Berlowitz, Carol Bishopric, Gunna Dickson)