UPDATE 1-Pool cuts profit view as new pool construction falls

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NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Home builders aren't the only ones being hurt by the housing market downturn. So too is Pool Corp (POOL.O), which calls itself the largest wholesale distributor of swimming pools and related outdoor products.

On Thursday Pool Corp cut its full-year earnings forecast for the second time in less than three months, saying the pool industry is experiencing a "significant contraction".

"We continue to be affected by current real estate market pressures and the resulting impact on new pool construction," said President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel Perez de la Mesa in a statement.

"These conditions have worsened over the past several months with the tightening of the credit markets as well as the ongoing slowdown in housing turnover."

This week, in a sign that new home construction continues to falter, the Commerce Department said U.S. home construction starts fell 2.6 percent in August to their lowest level in more than 12 years while building permit activity, a sign of future construction plans, dropped to a low not seen since mid-1995.

In July, Pool Corp cut its full-year earnings forecast to $1.75 to $1.85 per share from its previously projected range of $2.00 to $2.10 per share, citing the decline in new pool construction and bad weather that hurt its ability to replace and repair pools.

On Thursday it said it "continued to experience adverse weather in several of our key markets."

Pool Corp said it now expects full-year earnings per share of $1.45 to $1.55.

Analysts, on average, were expecting full-year earnings per share of $1.74, according to Reuters Estimates.

Its shares closed down 75 cents, or 2.6 percent, at $28.09 in Nasdaq trading ahead of the announcement. Its shares have fallen 28 percent this year through Thursday.

Pool Corp operates 284 sales centers in North America and Europe, and distributes more than 100,000 national brand and private label products to roughly 70,000 wholesale customers.