Morning business round-up: BP profits disappoint

What made the business news in Asia and Europe this morning? Here's our daily business round-up:

Europe's second largest oil company by market value, BP, made a profit of $5.3bn (£3.2bn) in the three months to 30 June as higher oil prices offset lower production.

The results weren't good enough to cheer the markets though, and the company's share price fell during the morning.

BP's replacement cost profit compares with a loss of $17bn in the same quarter of 2010, when the company took a big charge relating to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

In other energy news, shares in UK gas producer, BG Group, have risen 3.1% after it unveiled strong second-quarter figures.

The firm's pre-tax profits rose 27% to $1.12bn from the same period in 2010 due to high natural gas prices.

In the UK the latest economic numbers did little to excite the markets. Growth in the UK economy slowed in the three months to 30 June, partly because of the extra bank holiday in April.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to the Office for National Statistics.

European banks also had a bad morning. Major job cuts are expected at Swiss bank UBS after it announced plans to reduce costs by as much as 2bn Swiss francs ($2.5bn; £1.2bn).

UBS made the announcement as it reported a big drop in quarterly profit. Its net profit for the three months to 30 June was 1.015bn Swiss francs, 49% lower than 2.005bn a year earlier.

Deutsche Bank's latest profits also failed to reach market expectations. It said it was affected by the turbulence from the continuing debt crisis in the eurozone area.

Net profit for the three months to 30 June totalled 1.2bn euros ($1.8bn; £1bn), 6% higher than a year earlier. Deutsche Bank's net revenues rose 19% to 8.5bn euros.

In Asia India's central bank has raised interest rates by more-than-expected as it continues to fight rising prices.

The Reserve Bank of India raised its main rate to 8% from 7.5%, the eleventh increase since March 2010.

Inflation has been accelerating and a key measure of price growth hit 9.44% in June, pushed up by higher food and fuel costs.

And South Korea's ambitions to enter the Indian energy market have received a big boost as the two countries signed a civil nuclear deal.

The agreement will allow South Korea to export its nuclear energy technology to India. It comes as India has been struggling to keep up its energy supply to meet the increased demand in wake of its rapid economic expansion.

And another company looking to tap into fast-growing emerging markets, General Electric (GE), said it is shifting the headquarters of its X-Ray unit to China.

The company said several senior officials of the unit will relocate to Beijing from the US over the next month.

And in technology, Arm Holdings, the UK maker of chips that power smartphones such as the iPhone, has seen its profits rise on increased demand for those devices.

Pre-tax profit rose by 14% to £33.8m in the second quarter, the company said, from the same period last year.

Arm's shares fell 2.5% after French rival STMicroelectronics posted a weak sales outlook.

China's internet search engine Baidu has once again beaten forecasts as it reported a 95% surge in profits for the second quarter.

The company said it made a profit of 1.63bn yuan ($253m; £155m) in the three months to June, compared with earnings of 837m yuan during the same period last year.

Today's Business Daily programme looks at how worrying the US deficit really is, and reports from Cambodia on the launch of the country's new stock market.