(Adds new items and updates futures)

Sept 28 - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening higher on Thursday with futures up 0.14%.

* BABCOCK: British engineering and defence company Babcock stuck to its guidance for higher organic revenue and improving margins this year, helped by progress in its shipbuilding and nuclear infrastructure contracts.

* PHOENIX GROUP: British life insurer Phoenix Group posted a marginal rise in its half-yearly adjusted operating profit, driven by steady demand for its corporate pension scheme insurance.

* MITCHELLS & BUTLERS: Britain's Mitchells & Butlers Plc posted a rise in annual sales growth, as more customers stepped out to grab drinks and food at its pubs despite a high inflationary environment and a cost of living crisis.

* 888 HOLDINGS: British bookmaker 888 Holdings forecast a fall in annual profit margins and said it expected to post a 10% decline in third-quarter revenue, partly hurt by "significant impact" from compliance changes in dotcom markets.

* BOE: The Bank of England set out a

reform of capital rules

for insurers to "unlock tens of billions of pounds" for investments in the economy.

* HSBC: HSBC is set to acquire Citigroup's China consumer wealth management business, which manages more than $3 billion in assets, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

* OIL: Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Thursday.

* METALS: Copper prices declined as a firm dollar and rising inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses weighed on the market.

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

> Other business headlines (Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar and Zainab Saifuddin Saifee in Bengaluru;)