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

* FTSE up 0.4 pct at close

* 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 (Updates prices at close)

By Kit Rees and Sudip Kar-Gupta

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index climbed on Tuesday with Standard Chartered and BP both rising sharply after reporting earnings that reassured investors.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 0.4 percent higher at 6,284.52 points, slightly below a 4-month high reached last week, with BP's 4.3 percent rise adding the most points.

The energy group 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.

The banking group Standard Chartered surged over 9 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 led the UK banking index higher, which rose 3 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," said Gary Greenwood, analyst at Shore Capital.

But he also added 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 2.6 percent after reporting a rise in profits.

Engineering firm Cobham, which is on the FTSE 250 mid-cap index, slumped 17.5 percent after proposing a 500 million pound ($725 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 0.7 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 Kevin Liffey nd Ralph Boulton)