Britain's FTSE rises, boosted by BP and Standard Chartered

* FTSE up 0.3 pct, slightly below last week's 4-month high

* Standard Chartered (HKSE: 2888.HK - news) surges after results

* BP rises as results beat forecasts despite profit slump

* Cobham (Other OTC: CBHMF - news) dives after rights issue, profit warning (Recasts, adds detail and quotes, updates prices)

By Kit Rees and Sudip Kar-Gupta

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index climbed on Tuesday with a surge in bank Standard Chartered and a rise in oil major BP after both reported earnings that reassured investors.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 0.3 percent to 6,281.50 points, slightly below a 4-month high reached last week.

A 4.3 percent rise at BP added the most points to the FTSE.

BP posted an 80 percent drop in first quarter profits but still beat analysts' expectations. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) maintained its dividend and said it could cut capital spending further.

"Overall it's a good set of figures as it looks like BP is getting costs under control," said Joe Rundle, head of trading at ETX Capital.

Banking group Standard Chartered surged over 11 percent after its profit rebounded in the first quarter, as reduced loan losses offered signs of a turnaround following a loss-making 2015.

The stock was set for its biggest daily gain since May 2010, lifting the UK banking index which rose 2.7 percent.

"Q1 results ... show the group has moved back into profit on both underlying and reported bases, reflecting a sharp reduction in impairments compared to the final quarter of last year," Gary Greenwood, analyst at Shore Capital, said, adding a note of caution on the bank's outlook.

"We believe the road to recovery is a long one and that the shares are likely to remain highly volatile in the near-term. We therefore retain a neutral stance."

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Whitbread (LSE: WTB.L - news) , which runs Premier Inn hotels and the Costa Coffee chain, rose 1.5 percent after reporting a rise in profits.

Engineering firm Cobham, which is on the FTSE 250 mid-cap index, slumped more than 19 percent after proposing a 500 million pounds ($724.80 million) rights issue to strengthen its balance sheet after issuing a profit warning.

"As earnings have been essentially static for some time, it is unlikely that the market will rehabilitate a better financed Cobham until true organic growth is demonstrated by the company," Andy Chambers, analyst at Edison Investment Research, said in a note.

The FTSE 100 is up around 0.6 percent so far in 2016, but nearly 12 percent below a record high reached in April 2015.

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Mike Dolan, Markets Editor EMEA. (Editing by Robin Pomeroy)