Nov 18 (Reuters) - Fibre cement maker James Hardie

reported a 2% drop in its second-quarter profit on

Tuesday, as weak single-family construction and ongoing

inventory reductions in North America deepened demand pressures

in a tough macroeconomic backdrop.

The company also said it has appointed Ryan Lada as the new

chief financial officer, succeeding Rachel Wilson effective

immediately, and named Nigel Stein as board chair starting

November 17.

James Hardle flagged a challenging environment, including a

modest fall in organic net sales for siding and trim segment,

and lower manufacturing utilization in its North America

operations, all compounding pressure from a sluggish

single-family construction market.

The firm raised its full-year net sales forecast for the

siding and trim division, its largest contributor for the

quarter, pointing to stabilising market conditions and

normalised inventory levels.

The Dublin-headquartered firm reported adjusted net income

of $154 million for the three months ended September 30,

compared with $157 million last year.

That beat the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of $144.2

million.

For fiscal 2026, the company expects net sales for its

siding and trim business to be between $2.925 billion to $2.995

billion, from its earlier forecast of $2.675 billion to $2.850

billion.