China's Huaneng slide 7 percent on profit warning

HONG KONG, April 17 (Reuters) - Shares in Huaneng Power International (0902.HK), China's largest independent electricity provider, slid more than 7 percent on Thursday, after it said first-quarter net profit fell more than 50 percent due to rising coal costs.

Citigroup has downgraded Huaneng (HNP.N) (600011.SS) to "sell" from "buy", saying the firm's unit fuel costs could have risen more than 20 percent in January-March due to surging spot coal prices and shipping fees, exceeding Huaneng's target of containing unit fuel cost growth to less than 18 percent for 2008.

Shares in Huaneng fell as much as 7.4 percent to HK$4.77 on Thursday. (Reporting by Judy Hua; editing by Ken Wills)