Feb 11 (Reuters) - James Hardie Industries ( JHIUF )

posted a 7% ​drop in profit ‌for the third ⁠quarter on Wednesday,

hurt by ⁠lower organic ‌sales ‌at its key North ​America market ‌as

rising cost pressures continued to ​weaken housing ​demand.

The ‌Dublin-headquartered firm, among the world's leading

fibre ⁠cement makers, reported ⁠adjusted net income of $142.2

million for the three months ⁠ended ‌December 31, ‌compared with

$153.6 million ⁠a year earlier.

It, however, beat the Visible Alpha estimate of $130.1

million.

(Reporting by Nikita ​Maria Jino and Shruti Agarwal in

Bengaluru; ​Editing by ‌Krishna Chandra ​Eluri)