HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill (AP) - Sears Holdings Corp. said yesterday that it lost money in its second quarter - missing expectations - as it was dragged down by lower sales and one-time costs, causing shares to plunge.

The weak housing market cost it sales in home-improvement and appliance categories at Sears department stores, and clothing sales were weak at both Sears and its Kmart discount chain.

Shares fell $9.81, or 13.3 percent, to $63.95 in pre-market trading.

The retailer lost $94 million, or 79 cents per share, for the period ended August 1. That compares with a profit of $65 million, or 50 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding items such as a 32 cents-per-share charge for store closings and severance, and a 22 cents-per-share charge for domestic pension plan expense, Hoffman Estates-based Sears had a loss of $20 million, or 17 cents per share.

The retailer closed 28 underperforming stores in the quarter and said it expects an additional charge of about $5 million in the second half of the year as stores closed in the quarter wind down their operations.

Revenue at the company led by financier Edward Lampert fell 10 percent to $10.55 billion from $11.76 billion on the stronger dollar and same-store sale declines.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast profit of 35 cents per share on revenue of $10.73 billion. Analysts' estimates generally exclude one-time items.

The retailer's Sears Domestic sales at stores open at least a year dropped 12.5 percent, hurt by the ongoing housing downturn and soft apparel sales. The figure dipped 3.9 percent for Kmart, also on its weak apparel performance.

The pullback in spending on clothes is not uncommon for retailers during the recession, as shoppers are tightening their purse strings and gravitating toward getting more value from their dollar at discount-oriented businesses such as TJX Cos.

Sales at stores open at least a year, a key indicator of retailer performance known as same-store sales, measure growth at existing stores rather than newly-opened ones.

Sears, whose brands include Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard, looked for ways to improve its financial performance by paring inventories and cutting costs. Merchandise inventories fell to about $9.4 billion from $9.8 billion, while domestic inventory levels declined to $8.6 billion from $8.9 billion.

Total costs and expenses dropped to $10.61 billion from $11.58 billion.