MILAN (Reuters) - Italian dairy group Parmalat (PLT.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) more than tripled its consolidated net profit in 2007, thanks to legal settlements and lower expenses.

At the core level, Italy's biggest listed food group forecast in a statement profit growth of 7-10 percent on sales growth of 3-5 percent in 2008.

Parmalat, which restructured after buckling under massive debt in 2003, expected the same growth rates for 2009, according to slides posted on its Web site.

It proposed a dividend of 0.159 euro a share on 2007 results, it said.

For the first two months of 2008, its prices and sales volumes were hurting because they had come under "significant competitive pressure" in its more mature markets, it said in the statement.

Its shares closed down 2.08 percent at 2.54 euros in Milan before the results came out.

It said final 2007 core profit or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 5.4 percent to 366.6 million euros, slightly below preliminary figures reported on Feb. 7.

At the consolidated net level, profit jumped to 673.4 million euros ($1.03 billion) from 192.5 million euros in 2006.

It cited several factors for the rise, including proceeds from lawsuit settlements, lower debt and debt payments and more liquidity invested by the parent company.