* Nordic firm says construction orders down 33 percent in Q1
* Warns further cost cuts possible
* Q1 revenues 29.8 bln SEK vs 30.5 bln
STOCKHOLM, April 6 (Reuters) - Nordic building firm Skanska expects the impact of the economic slump to worsen next year and warned of further cost cuts if the downward trend in orders experienced in the first quarter continues.
The company said on Monday that order bookings in its construction business fell 33 percent year on year to 22.9 billion crowns ($2.90 billion).
Revenues from the business were 29.8 billion crowns, down from 30.5 billion, Skanska said in a statement released before its annual general meeting.
"The major challenge for Construction operations is to win new assignments for 2010, when the weaker economy will probably have a greater impact on us," Chief Executive Johan Karlstrom said.
If order bookings continue to decline, further cost cuts may be necessary, he added.
Revenues from Residential Development were 1.4 billion crowns against 2.0 billion,
The company, which is due to release its full first-quarter report on May 6, said the order decline was led by its civil construction business in the United States, where a government stimulus package had tempted many public clients to defer tendering projects.
"We have a relatively strong order book within Construction. To some extent, the delay in securing new projects in the U.S. civil construction market is being offset by large, multi-year projects," Karlstrom said.
Delayed projects should come to tender later in the year, he added.
With the world's major economies in recession, businesses across all sectors of industry are suffering. Construction firms, hit by a slumping real estate market, have been among the worst affected.
Skanska said residential sales declined 47 percent compared with the first quarter of 2008, with the Czech Republic and Finland, affected most.
The Swedish and Norwegian markets recovered somewhat and Skanska sold more residential units than in the first quarter of 2008.
The company said its order backlog at March 31 was 141.3 billion crowns.
(editing by John Stonestreet)