UPDATE 1-LDK Solar shares extend slide, down almost 26 pct

(Adds Barron's report on company)

NEW YORK, Oct 8 (Reuters) - LDK Solar Co Ltd (LDK.N) shares fell over 26 percent on Monday, extending last week's sharp decline when a former executive said the solar wafer maker had problems with its silicon inventories.

The shares of the company, based in Jiangxi, China, tumbled 26.4 percent to close $37.50.

The stock fell 26 percent last week after news a former financial controller had left the company and challenged LDK's inventory controls. LDK has said its own internal investigation found no material discrepancies in its financial statement.

Barron's, in its Oct. 8 issue, said with the help of an interpreter it talked to someone with knowledge of LDK's manufacturing.

"That person said that the company's silicon ingots were indeed so impure that a recent production run had produced tons of them that were too contaminated for technicians to even analyze with instruments," Barron's reported. "The company says it knows of no such problems."

The shares of other solar power developers also weakened, with China Sunergy Co Ltd (CSUN.O) closing off 9.5 percent at $10.08, Yingli Green Energy Holding Co Ltd (YGE.N) down 9.8 percent to $28.11 and Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd (STP.N) down 5.17 percent at $38.85. (Reporting by Matt Daily in New York and Leonard Anderson in San Francisco)