UPDATE 2-Cemex cuts 2008 EBITDA outlook on US housing

(Adds details, company, analyst quotes)

By Robin Emmott

MONTERREY, Mexico, June 16 (Reuters) - Cemex, the world's number-three cement maker, cut its 2008 forecast for pre-tax earnings to $5.3 billion on Monday, battered by the weak U.S. housing market and a slowdown in key European markets.

But Cemex (CX.N)(CMXCPO.MX) still predicted strong second-quarter earnings due to its purchase of Australia's Rinker in June last year. Mexico's Cemex began including those operations in its results in the third quarter of 2007.

"We continue to face a difficult economic environment in the United States with construction falling more than originally anticipated," Chief Financial Officer Rodrigo Trevino said in a statement.

Cemex, the top building materials company in the United States, had forecast 2008 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $5.6 billion. "We now expect EBITDA for 2008 of about $5.3 billion," Trevino added.

For Cemex, which competes globally with Switzerland's Holcim (HOLN.VX) and France's Lafarge (LAFP.PA), the impact of the U.S. housing crisis comes as Cemex increased its market share through last year's $16 billion acquisition of Rinker, which had 80 percent of its operations in the United States.

"We now expect domestic cement volume in the United States to decrease by around 12 percent, ready-mix volume to decrease by about 21 percent and aggregates volumes to decrease by around 20 percent for the full year 2008," Cemex said.

Housing slowdowns in Spain and the United Kingdom are also hurting Cemex, which has operations in more than 50 countries.

In Spain, where the economy is cooling after a decade of high growth levels, the company expects cement volumes to decrease by about 17 percent this year.

"This was lower than we expected and a little worrying given that Spain is one of Cemex's top markets," said a Mexico City-based cement analyst who declined to be named.

The UK housing market is also cooling as the economy falters, feeling the impact of the U.S. credit crunch. The average cost of a UK house has fallen by about 8 percent from a peak in August last year, according to British bank HBOS Plc HBOS.L.

That follows a near decade-long boom, during which the price of the average UK home more than tripled.

Cemex said it sees British cement volumes falling about 9 percent in all of 2008.

For the second quarter, Cemex said it expects revenue of more than $6.4 billion, an increase of 31 percent from the same period a year ago. Cemex also forecast EBITDA of $1.4 billion in the quarter, 23 percent higher than the year-ago period. (Additional reporting by Gabriela Lopez; Editing by Braden Reddall)