* Sees FY profit within range of market hopes
* 20 weeks to Nov. 1 underlying sales down 6.7 percent
* Gross margin similar to last year
* Shares down 5 percent at 1009 GMT
(Adds detail, analyst comment, shares)
LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Britain's Galiform, owner of Howden Joinery, the supplier of kitchen units to small builders, said it can meet market hopes for full-year profit so long as trading conditions do not worsen.
"If market conditions for the remainder of the financial year remain consistent with those seen in recent weeks, the board currently expects that the profit outcome for the year would be within the current range of market expectations," it said.
Before Thursday's trading update this range stood at 65 million pounds ($100.5 million) to 75 million, down from 79.8 million pounds last time.
The update revealed a sharp fall in second-half underlying sales.
Galiform said it was not expecting the UK's economic environment to improve in the short term and was continuing to manage the business on that basis.
"The key risk to future trading performance remains the economic uncertainty," it said.
Over the past year, shares in Galiform have lost 81 percent of their value.
At 1009 GMT, the stock was down 1 pence, or 5 percent, to 19 pence as investors fretted about the longer term outlook.
"Galiform has navigated a difficult trading period relatively well, but there has been a slowdown and there are few reasons to believe this will not continue into next year," said Dresdner Kleinwort analyst Sanjay Vidyarthi in a note to clients.
The group said Howden's sales in the 20 weeks since its first-half ended on June 14 until Nov. 1 were down 6.7 percent on a same depot basis, which strips out the impact of new depot openings.
This compares with a 4.3 percent increase in the 24 weeks to June 14.
For the 44 weeks to Nov. 1, Howden's sales increased 3.6 percent to 701.7 million pounds, but were down 1.6 percent on a same depot basis.
The slowdown reflects reduced demand for fitted kitchens as consumers cut back on spending amid rising unemployment, falling house prices and growing fears of recession.
The group, which trades from 456 UK depots, said gross margin for the year to date remained similar to last year.
It said current net borrowings were in line with internal expectations. It had ended the first half with net debt of 41 million pounds.
Dresdner Kleinwort's Vidyarthi cut his pretax profit forecast for 2008 by 17 percent to 63 million, from 76 million pounds, and his 2009 forecast by 54 percent to 36 million.
He maintained his 'buy' stance on a belief Galiform will emerge stronger than rivals from the downturn. (Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Mark Potter and Andrew Macdonald)