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Bill Radke: Europe’s second-largest oil company, BP, reported a sharp fall in profit this morning. Second-quarter earnings were down by more than 50 percent compared to last year. And yet analysts are hailing the figures as . . . pretty good. From London, Stephen Beard has more.

Stephen Beard: BP made just over $3 billion in the second quarter, a 53 percent decline. But analysts say it could easily have been worse. After all, the price of oil has fallen steeply over the last year. Prices flirted with $150 a barrel last summer. They’re now hovering around the $70 mark.

Nick McGregor of brokers Redmayne Bentley says considering the circumstances, BP’s done rather well:

Nick McGregor: BP have delivered good results by controlling costs and effectively stripping $3 billion a year from overheads. BP’s big advantage is they started cutting costs earlier than most of their peer group.

That cost-cutting meant that BP shed more than 5,000 jobs. Other big oil companies, like Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil, are set to report their figures in the coming days. McGregor says they now have a tough act to follow. BP’s results may well prove the best of the bunch.

In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.