UPDATE 1-Australia's Boral says year profit could fall

(Adds detail, shares)

SYDNEY, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Boral Ltd (BLD.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Australia's largest building materials maker, said on Monday its full-year profit could fall by around 15 percent because of weak housing markets in the United States and a strong Australian dollar.

Boral also said that its Australian businesses had performed ahead of expectations in the September quarter, while its U.S. businesses, which account for around one-fifth of its earnings, were below expectations.

Shares in Boral fell as much as 3.2 percent to hit a year-low of A$6.60, but recovered to trade down 0.7 percent at A$6.77 by 2325 GMT against a wider market up 1.2 percent.

The company has been battling a prolonged slowdown in the U.S. housing market, which has also hit rivals James Hardie Industries N.V. (JHX.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Rinker, recently taken over by Mexico's Cemex (CMXCPO.MX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (CX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Chief Executive Rod Pearse said U.S. housing permits and starts had continued to decline since year-end, which had further reduced earnings from Boral's brick and roof tile businesses.

"Whilst there is considerable uncertainty we anticipate that U.S. housing starts could fall to 1.1 million in FY2008, which is 30 percent below the prior year and 40 percent below the level of underlying demand," Pearse told the company's annual meeting.

"If this occurs and if the AUD/US exchange rate remains at around $0.90 for the remainder of the year, Boral's profit after tax in the first half and the full year will be around 15 percent below last year."

Ahead of the meeting, analysts had on average expected 2008 net profit of around A$297.6 million, according to Reuters Estimates.