FTSE up 0.6% as results boost; commodities rise

By Michael Taylor

LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Britain's blue-chip index ended up 0.6 percent on Thursday boosted by a flurry of results, while rising U.S. crude CLc1.L and metal prices sent heavyweight commodity shares higher. The FTSE 100 .FTSE gained 35.8 points to 6,251.8 but is still down more than 3 percent this year.

On a busy day for corporate earnings, BT (BT.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) contributed most points to the index, climbing 5.4 percent after the telecoms operator posted a rise in fourth-quarter underlying core earnings, in line with forecasts, and said it expected to deliver continued growth next year. [ID:nL15241021]

British confectioner Cadbury (CBRY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) added 3.9 percent on the back of first-half sales growth and persistent merger talk.

The maker of Dairy Milk chocolate, Trident gum and Halls cough drops, which demerged its North American Dr Pepper Snapple Inc soft drinks business this month, said first-half growth in confectionery sales would beat its 4-6 percent target range. [CBRY.L-RTRS-LEN]

SABMiller (SAB.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world's biggest brewer, also tacked on 3.9 percent after beating forecasts with a 19 percent rise in annual earnings and said it expects to raise beer prices to offset soaring commodity costs. [ID:nL14836372]

On the downside, Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) slipped 2 percent. It said profits fell in the first quarter -- but did not say by how much -- after it took a 1 billion pound writedown on assets tarnished by the credit crunch. The bank also refused to rule out a rights issue. [ID:nL15355889] [ID:nWLB1645]

HBOS (HBOS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Alliance & Leicester (ALLL.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) lost between 0.4 and 1.4 percent. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), trading ex-rights, edged up.

"Volumes are pathetic," said Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners. "It's been a much quieter day than it deserved to be bearing in mind it has been a heavy results day."