Honeywell sees subprime hitting industry: report

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Diversified manufacturer Honeywell International (HON.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) expects the crisis in U.S. housing loans to affect industry and hurt economic growth in 2008, its chief executive said in a newspaper interview.

Chief Executive David Cote told Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in an interview published on Saturday that the crisis will dampen economic growth in the United States and Europe.

The company plans to raise its profit margin -- the relation of earnings to sales -- to 20 percent in coming years from 13 percent right now, Cote said, according to the paper, without giving more details.

As part of its growth plan, the company is looking at takeovers, Cote told the newspaper.