China Zoomlion sees '08 profit growth above 50 pct

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese heavy machinery maker Changsha Zoomlion Industry Science and Technology Development (000157.SZ) expects its sales and net profit growth to exceed 50 percent this year, a senior executive said on Tuesday.

Zoomlion has also had talks on possible asset purchases in the United States, Jianguo Zhang, a senior vice president, told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry event.

He gave no further details on the discussions, but added that the company would nevertheless be focused next year on consolidating its operations after winning a joint bid with Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and two other investors to buy Italy's Compagnia Italiana Forme Acciaio SpA, or Cifa, for 271 million euros ($341.9 million).

Zoomlion alone will pay 163 million euros for a 60 percent stake in the Italian construction machinery maker.

Zhang added that the company would be able to achieve its target of boosting the overseas portion of its total revenue to 40 percent by 2010, from an expected 20 percent this year.

($1=.7926 Euro)

(Reporting by Fang Yan; Writing by Edmund Klamann; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)