UPDATE 1-Hardie sees year profit at low end of forecasts

(Adds outlook, details, analysts' forecasts)

MELBOURNE, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Australian building materials group James Hardie Industries NV (JHX.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a 39 percent fall in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, and tipped its full year profit would be at least a third lower than last year, hurt by a prolonged slump in U.S. home-building.

Hardie said it was comfortable with the lower end of a range of analysts' forecasts for the year to March 2009 of between $97 million and $130 million, down from $168 million last year.

The company said "there remained significant uncertainty over the outlook for U.S. housing activity", and warned building approvals in Australia and New Zealand were also expected to continue falling in 2009.

Home-building in the Philippines was expected to remain steady or decline.

Net operating profit in the June quarter, excluding costs related to compensation payment to victims of asbestos related diseases, fell to $41.6 million from $68.6 million in the same quarter a year earlier. JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs JBWere, on average, had forecast a net profit around $41 million on the same basis.

The group's closely watched profit margin on operating earnings for the U.S. fibre cement business was 23.3 percent, in line with analysts' forecasts, with the business hurt by higher freight costs and a slight fall in average selling prices.

Analysts have warned that the downturn in the U.S., where Hardie normally makes about 80 percent of its earnings, will bite not only because fewer homes are being built, but because builders might switch to cheaper home-siding, like wood or vinyl, to cut costs.

"Although we expect our volume to remain below prior year as a result of a continuing decline in housing markets, we expect our differentiated product strategy will allow us to maintain selling price and increase market share," Chief Executive Louis Gries said in a statement.

Hardie's shares have fallen 24 percent so far this year, underperforming a 21 percent fall in the broader market . (Reporting by Sonali Paul)