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* FTSE up 0.4 pct
* Oil majors up as U.S. pulls out of Iran deal
* Belgian billionaire sells stake in Burberry
* Imperial brands jumps after H1 results
* Vodafone shares stable after $21.8 bln deal
By Julien Ponthus
LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - The London stock market opened inpositive territory on Wednesday, lifted by strong results bytobacco company Imperial Brands and oil stocks following theUnited States' decision to pull out of the international Irannuclear deal.
By 0827 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE index advanced 0.4percent, slightly ahead of other European bourses, where tradingfocused on a flurry of corporate earnings rather than on thebroader economic consequences - outside of oil prices - ofsanctions U.S. President Trump announced against Iran.
Royal Dutch Shell and BP, up 1.9 percent and1.6 percent respectively, added the most points to the index asoil prices rose more than 2 percent. U.S. sanctions against theOPEC Iran member are expected to tighten global oil supply.
The top performer was heavyweight Imperial Brands,which jumped 3.5 percent after a pledge to step up divestmentsand first-half sales and profits slightly ahead of estimates.
"With a number of areas of encouragement for the market tohang its hat on, such as volume delivery in the context ofpeers, continued commitment to its model, further progresswith its vapour business and the decision to sell offnon-strategic assets for up to £2 billion over the next 12-24months, the stock should outperform today", Jefferies analystscommented.
Shares in Vodafone were stable, up 0.3 percent,after the world's second-largest mobile operator announced a$21.8 billion deal to buy Liberty Global's assets inGermany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania.
British fashion house Burberry was the worstperformer, down about 7 percent after Belgian billionaire AlbertFrere's Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) sold its entire 6.6percent stake.
Compass Group shares also fell heavily, down 6.2percent after the world's biggest catering firm's results camein below expectations.
Among smaller companies, baker Greggs dropped about14 percent after it warned that profits for 2018 were likely tofall short of expectations and be at a similar level to 2017,blaming a dip in consumer demand.Still in the "mid-cap" segment of the market, shares inprecision engineering group Renishaw jumped 8.2 percent,on track for their best day in over two years after it raisedits guidance.
British sub-prime lender Provident Financial also jumped 6.6percent as it said its recovery plans would deliver 2018 resultsin line with internal plans.(Reporting by Julien Ponthus; Editing by Jon Boyle)
