German luxury carmaker BMW said Wednesday its net profits had dropped sharply in the second quarter of the year despite strong sales growth in Asia, especially in China.

Net profits came to 1.28 billion euros ($1.58 billion) in the second three months of the year, BMW said, a decline of 28.1 percent on the same period in 2011.

China's manufacturing activity picked up modestly to a three-month high in July as factory output rose, boosted by government measures to stimulate the economy, HSBC said Wednesday.

The British banking giant said its closely watched purchasing managers' index (PMI), which gauges nationwide manufacturing activity, posted a reading of 49.3 in July.

Millions of dollars in U.S. funds have been lost due to poor planning and workmanship in projects to help rebuild Afghanistan and billions more could be at risk, a U.S. watchdog said Monday.

The report by the special inspector general for Afghanistan, John Sopko, warned that handing over security to Afghan forces as the U.S. withdraws its troops would also likely cause the costs of U.S.-funded aid schemes to balloon.

The United States will this week host a meeting of some 16 nations opposed to a controversial EU carbon tax on airlines, aiming to draw up an alternative plan, a U.S. official said Monday.

"All of the countries who are part of this meeting... are opposed to the EU's application of its emissions trading scheme (ETS) to foreign carriers," a senior administration official said.

Germany's number-two bank Commerzbank early Tuesday announced the sale of its Ukrainian subsidiary Bank Forum for an undisclosed sum, but at a charge to the German bank of 286 million euros.

Commerzbank added in a statement it expected second quarter operating profits of 450 million euros against 55 million a year earlier, making an operating profit of one billion euros in the first half compared with 1.2 billion over the same period last year.

Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest lender, said Tuesday that its bottom-line profit was slashed nearly in half by the Eurozone debt crisis in the second quarter.

Deutsche Bank said in a statement its net profit amounted to 661 million euros ($811 million) in the period from April to June, compared to 1.2 billion euros during the same period last year.

A Tehran court has sentenced to death four people convicted in Iran's biggest-ever banking scandal, according to the national chief prosecutor on Monday, quoted by the official news agency IRNA.

The sentences came at the end of a trial of 39 suspects that started in February. The magnitude of the scandal was estimated at $2.6 billion when it came to light in September last year.

Business and consumer confidence in Europe slid in July, with Germany suffering the biggest fall as the Eurozone debt crisis threatened Spain, the European Union said on Monday.

The Economic Sentiment Indicator produced by the European Commission fell to 87.9 points across the Eurozone, down about two points on the previous month, the data showed.

Dubai-based real estate giant Emaar Properties said on Sunday it posted an 82 percent surge in net profits in the first half of 2012 as retail and hospitality grew, costs fell and a write-off was not repeated.

The developer of the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa, saw its net profit in the first six months rise to 1.22 billion dirhams ($332.4 million), compared with 671 million dirhams ($182.8 million) in the corresponding period last year, a company statement said.

Air France-KLM on Monday posted 895 million euros ($1.1 billion) in losses for the second quarter, as it set aside 368 million euros in provisions to meet restructuring costs.

The result marked deterioration from losses of 197 million euros during the same period last year, and underlined the need for its restructuring plan, the Franco-Dutch airline said.