UPDATE 1-Africa Israel Q4 net profit drops

(Adds quotes from news conference)

TEL AVIV, March 31 (Reuters) - Israeli conglomerate Africa Israel Investments (AFIL01.TA) on Monday reported a 40 percent fall in quarterly net profit due to losses in real estate and construction.

Africa Israel, controlled by its billionaire chairman Lev Leviev, posted a net profit of 247 million shekels ($69 million) in the fourth quarter, down from 412 million a year earlier.

The company had a 359 million shekel loss due to weak results from its construction and infrastructure unit, Danya Cebus (DNYA.TA), and from an accounting adjustment.

Revenues for the quarter doubled to 2.87 billion shekels from 1.4 billion a year earlier.

The company's shares closed down 3.1 percent compared with a flat market.

Acting Chief Executive Nadav Grinshpon said he expected some of the losses posted by Danya Cebus on the construction of Israel's highway 431, the cause for the company's weak results, would be recovered after the company claimed the money back from the government and an earlier-than-planned opening of the road.

He told a news conference that the loss on the project was due to Danya underestimating the rise in the price of raw materials for construction.

Africa Israel hopes to open the highway as early as September or October instead of the planned January 2009, he said.

Chairman Leviev said the company was in a good position to face a downturn in the global economy, as it had closed all its financial dealings at good terms with banks prior to the crisis and had acquired plots of land for construction, both in the United States and Russia, at low prices.

"We are ready for harder times in the U.S. ... We will be the first in the market with apartments when it comes out of the crisis," he said.

Leviev said he was not worried by the advent of a new president in Russia.

"We see business development in all the areas and parameters in Russia ... We have not seen signs that point to a worsening situation, but the opposite."

The company declared a dividend of 400 million shekels, or 7.93 shekels per share, to be paid on April 28.

Africa Israel also has interests in energy, hotels and fashion.

($1 = 3.57 shekels)

(Reporting by Shoshanna Solomon, Writing by Steven Scheer; Editing by Jason Neely)