UPDATE 1-Temple-Inland posts first-quarter loss

(Adds details on quarterly sales, CEO comment, background)

NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) - Corrugated packaging and building products maker Temple-Inland Inc (TIN.N: Quote, Profile, Research) posted a first-quarter loss on Tuesday, as its results were hurt by the slump in the U.S. housing market and higher costs.

Austin, Texas-based Temple-Inland posted a quarterly loss of $13 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with a year- earlier profit of $38 million, or 35 cents a share.

Excluding items, the company posted a loss of 5 cents a share, compared with a profit of 15 cents a share a year before. Wall Street had forecast a loss of 4 cents a share.

"First quarter results reflect a challenging U.S. business climate with escalating cost inflation in our corrugated packaging business and continued weakness in demand for building products," Chief Executive Doyle Simons, said in a statement.

Temple-Inland, which was under pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn, last year sold its timberland business and spun-off its financial services and real estate businesses.

Earlier this month, Citigroup raised its rating on the company to "buy" from "hold," saying it expects containerboard and wood products prices to improve in 2009 and 2010.

Quarterly sales fell almost 6 percent to $944 million, hurt by weakening sales from its building products segment.

Plum Creek and its peers have been bruised by the slump in the U.S. housing market and recent data from the National Association of Home Builders indicates that U.S. home builder sentiment lingers near all-time lows in April.