Dow Chemical Co posted a second-quarter loss on Thursday as sales slumped and the company took large charges to revamp its operations.

The results were the first to include financial performance data from Rohm & Haas, which Dow acquired in April for more than $16 billion after a contentious and prolonged buyout.

Dow reported $957 million in second-quarter charges, the bulk of which were for corporate restructuring.

The Rohm & Haas deal added nearly $10 billion in debt to the company's balance sheet. On Thursday, Dow said its long-term debt stood at $21.98 billion, up from $8.04 billion a year ago.

Since the acquisition, the company cut more than $375 million in costs and integrated 70 percent of Rohm.

Separately, Dow said it would sell some operations in Malaysia to Petronas for $660 million.

The recession has sharply cut demand for products made from chemicals. Midland, Michigan-based Dow did not provide a specific outlook for the rest of the year on Thursday, but did say it expects an eventual recovery.

The United States economy has found bottom, but will be slow in recovering as unemployment continues to be a drag on consumer spending, Chief Executive Andrew Liveris said in a statement.

Dow reported a net loss of $435 million, or 47 cents per share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $24 million, or 3 cents per share.

Excluding charges and preferred dividends, the company earned 5 cents per share. Analysts expected a loss of 8 cents, according to Reuters Estimates, although it was not immediately clear if the two numbers were comparable.

Sales fell 31 percent to $11.32 billion.

Dow shares fell 1.6 percent to $19.95 in premarket trading.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Lisa Von Ahn)