Huaneng Group to Cut 2008 Spending by 5% After Profit Declines

By Wang Ying

Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- China Huaneng Group, the nation's biggest electricity producer, plans to cut annual spending by 5 percent this year because of a ``significant decline'' in nine- month profit.

The parent company of Hong Kong-listed Huaneng Power International Inc. will seek policy support from the central government, Huaneng Group said on its Web site.

Huaneng Power had a loss of 2.2 billion yuan ($322 million) between July and September because of higher coal costs and state caps on electricity tariffs, the company said Oct. 21.

To contact the reporter on this story: Wang Ying in Beijing at wang30@bloomberg.net.