Britain's FTSE rises as Morrison rally offsets Next slump

* FTSE 100 up 0.9 pct at close

* Morrisons soars after results

* Next is worst FTSE 100 performer (Recasts, adds detail and quote, updates prices)

By Adela Suliman and Atul Prakash

LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Britain's top equity index roseon Thursday, led higher by a jump in Morrisons after arise in its first-half profit for the first time in four years,but Next slumped following poor results.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed slightly higherfor the second session in a row, up 0.9 percent at 6,730.30points though still near a one-month low after a shaky start tothe week.

Supermarket operator Morrisons was the top performer, rising7.5 percent and touching its highest level since March 2015after reporting a rise in first-half profit for the first timein four years and a third straight quarter of underlying salesgrowth.

Nicholas Hyett, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said thefirm was not completely out of the woods.

"Lower sterling will increase the costs of imported foods,and how far the supermarket is able to pass that increase on tocustomers remains to be seen," he said.

Sector rivals Tesco and Sainsbury werealso among the top performers, up 4.9 percent and 2.1 percentrespectively.

British clothing retailer Next dropped nearly 5percent after it reported a 1.5 percent fall in first-halfprofit and said trading since July had been challenging andvolatile.

Next's results also put pressure on peer Marks & Spencer, which fell 2.6 percent.

"Even though Next is less prone to the difficultiescurrently facing the high-end retailers, there are a number ofstruggles ... which the company is confronting with varyingdegrees of success," said Richard Hunter, head of research atWilson King Investment Management.

"The retail business has seen a slump in operating profit,the group overall has suffered due to the increase in markdownsales and the outlook is notably cautious. The widerimplications of Brexit, such as higher import costs, have yet towash through, whilst competition in the sector remains intense."

Official figures showed that British retail sales softenedonly slightly in August after a bumper July, suggesting June'svote to leave the EU has had little initial impact on shoppers'willingness to spend.

The FTSE 100 was steady after the Bank of England said itwas likely to cut interest rates later this year to just abovezero, despite resilient data and economists expecting Britain tododge a mild recession after Britain's June referendum.

Coca-Cola HBC rallied, its shares hitting theirhighest level since January 2014 on an upgrade from CreditSuisse to "outperform" from "neutral".

Credit Suisse raised Coca-Cola HBC's target price, statingbetter prospects in its main markets in Russia and Nigeria.

"CCH is our preferred European bottler given its moreattractive topline and EBIT growth potential, better ROICmomentum and scope for balance sheet action over the next 12m,"analysts at Credit Suisse said in a note.

Outside of the large caps, specialist annuities provider JRPGroup was up more than 18 percent. It posted a 12percent rise in operating profit on a pro-forma basis in thefirst half, boosted by the integration of a former rival.

(Editing by Andrew Roche)