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The FTSE 100 lost some of its early momentum to trade just 0.1% higher at 7,584.12 by midday.
BP rose 0.4% to 410.5p after the oil major swung to a bumper annual profit and pledged to buy back another $1.5 billion of its shares in the first quarter of 2022.
BP's underlying replacement cost of sales profit -- a measure closely watched by analysts -- was $12.8 billion, as it benefited from higher oil and gas prices amid a post-lockdown recovery in demand.
Ocado slumped 8.1% to £12.93 as profits again remain elusive at the online grocery play, which is continuing to spend heavily on its robotic logistics technology offering.
Ocado's pre-tax losses for the year through December amounted to £176.9 million, compared to year-on-year losses of £52.3 million, despite sales growth of 7.2%.
Power utility SSE gained 1.5% to £15.74, having upgraded its annual earnings guidance after a strong performance from its thermal and hydro plants offset disappointing renewables output.
SSE's adjusted earnings per share for the year through March were now expected to be at least 90p per share, up from previous guidance of at least 83p, the company said in a third-quarter trading update.
Enterprise software group Micro Focus International sank 11% to 406.82p after it narrowed annual losses to $517.8 million due to lower impairment charges, but saw its sales and underlying earnings fall.
Micro Focus's revenue slipped 3.4% to $2.90 billion and its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 12% to $1.04 billion, based on constant currency comparatives.
Support services group DCC shed 1.5% to £63.66 even as it its third-quarter profit rose year-on-year in line with expectations as acquisitions bolstered performance.
DCC said its LPG business traded robustly despite a 'significantly' increased cost of product.
Investment bank and equities broker Numis slumped 5.7% to 280p on announcing that it had experienced a slower start to its second quarter amid concerns about rising inflation and interest rates.
Numis said revenue for the first quarter ended 31 December had been in line with the strong second-half performance in the 2021 financial year, before the inflation concerns hit.
Asset manager River and Mercantile edged up less than 0.1% to 286.24p following news that portfolio manager Dan Hanbury had announced his intention to resign.
Hanbury was the portfolio manager of the ES River and Mercantile UK Equity Smaller Companies Fund and the ES River and Mercantile UK Equity Income Fund. He would be succeeded by George Ensor to manage the Smaller Companies Fund.