Britain's FTSE buoyed by Admiral, building sector gains

* FTSE 100 noses up 0.1 pct

* Admiral Group (LSE: ADM.L - news) hits record high

* CRH (EUREX: 558474.EX - news) , Travis Perkins (LSE: TPK.L - news) rally on results

* Mining sector tracks copper price

* Inmarsat (Other OTC: IMASF - news) falls on outlook

By Kit Rees

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - Blue (OTC BB: BUES - news) -chip British shares edged ahead on Thursday as a set of positive results from Admiral Group and buoyant stocks in the construction sector offset losses from Inmarsat.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.1 percent at 6,154.76 points by 0959 GMT, outperforming the broader European market.

The index's top gainer was Admiral Group, soaring more than 7 percent and hitting a record high, after posting better-than-expected results.

"If you're competitive in such a market, it means that you're perhaps charging people a bit less, but you're still getting a decent amount of money," Accendo Markets research analyst, Augustin Eden, said.

Likewise, Irish cement maker CRH and builders' merchant Travis Perkins both rallied more than 4 percent, after posting well-received results.

Mining stocks Glencore (Xetra: A1JAGV - news) , Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) and BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) all gained between 3.8 percent and 4.6 percent, tracking the price of copper which hit a three-month high.

BHP also benefited from a settlement with the Brazilian government following last November's dam disaster.

Satellite company Inmarsat, however, was the top FTSE faller, dropping 4.7 percent after it said that it expected tough trading conditions in some of its markets to persist this year.

The company also posted a 3.6-percent rise in core earnings for 2015, and said that the underlying trading environment in 2016 was expected to be broadly similar to that in 2015, when spending by its government customers was weak.

Television and media group ITV (LSE: ITV.L - news) extended its losses from the previous session on a smattering of price-target cuts following disappointing guidance for advertising revenue.

"We calculate that Studios organic growth will be negative in 2016 ... But most importantly, advertising trends are worse than expected," Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) analysts said in a note.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in HSBC, RSA Insurance Group, Persimmon (Other OTC: PSMMY - news) and Hargreaves Lansdown (LSE: HL.L - news) fell after going ex-dividend, taking about 10 points off the index.

Among mid-caps, engineering firm Cobham (Other OTC: CBHMF - news) slumped more than 9 percent, set for its worst day since November 2012 after missing earnings expectations. (Editing by Louise Ireland)