Skanska, one of the biggest builders in the United States, said the building segment outlook is slightly more cautious due to cost inflation and higher interest rates.

Those factors have also weakened consumer confidence, hurting the housing market, it said. As decision making takes longer, the company expects all its markets to remain negatively affected for some time.

"Market activity has reduced significantly this year and sales have slowed as a result," Chief Executive Officer Anders Danielsson said in a statement.

Third-quarter order bookings in Skanska's construction arm rose by 50% from a year earlier and by 17.4% versus the second quarter to 43.8 billion Swedish crowns adjusted for currency effects.

Operating profit at the Nordic region's largest builder slipped to 1.52 billion crowns ($138.7 million) from 1.54 billion a year earlier but topped the 1.31 billion expected by five analysts polled by Refinitiv.

($1 = 10.9616 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Marta Frackowiak and Agata Rybska; editing by Josephine Mason and Jason Neely)