UPDATE 3-French hotel group Accor braces for slowdown

(Adds management and analysts' comments, updates shares)

By Astrid Wendlandt)

PARIS, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Accor (ACCP.PA), the world's fourth-largest hotel group, announced a new round of cost savings on Thursday as it warned of tough times ahead and said the U.S. slowdown was accelerating "week after week".

The French hotels and services group, which operates the Ibis and Sofitel hotel chains, gave a full-year profit target slightly below forecasts and also said hiving off its services unit was not currently on the cards.

Accor, which has announced cost-cutting measures over the past two years in an effort to boost earnings, is now aiming to save some 75 million euros ($110.9 million) over 2009 and 2010, partly by cutting spending on marketing.

"In Europe, the business customer is holding firm but the leisure is weaker," Accor Chief Executive Gilles Pelisson told a conference call with analysts.

"2009 and 2010 could be more difficult on a macroeconomic basis," Pelisson said, having noted earlier in a radio interview that the U.S. slowdown was accelerating.

Accor said it was targeting a full-year profit before tax of 910-930 million euros, which several analysts said was below a widely quoted market consensus of 940 million euros.

"Clearly, management needs to be conservative because of the macroeconomic outlook but at the moment there is no sign yet that there is a major slowdown in Europe," Simon Champion, analyst at Deutsche Bank, said.

Accor's comments echoed those made by rivals such as InterContinental Hotels (IHG.L), the world's biggest hotelier, and Starwood Hotel & Resorts Worldwide (HOT.N) which both forecast trading would become more challenging.

Accor shares, which have lost about 18 percent since the beginning of the year, fell more than 4 percent on Thursday and were down 3.11 percent at 43.59 euros by 1000 GMT.

NO BREAK-UP YET

The group's main shareholders, the investment funds Eurazeo and Colony who together own 21.6 percent of the group, on Wednesday were offered an extra seat on the group's supervisory board, bringing their total number of directors to three.

Pelisson said the two funds were fully supportive of the group's strategy based on running a hotels and services business which includes activities such as lunch vouchers.

"At this stage, there is no plan for disposal of services," Pelisson told analysts. "But we are committed to see how the market can better reflect the value of our stock price."