A couple of heavyweight European banks reported their results Tuesday, showing robust profits, but expressing caution about the future.

Swiss banking giant UBS reported second quarter pre-tax profit 2.6 billion Swiss francs, and net profit of just over CHF 2 billion (US$1.9 billion). Pre-tax profits from its investment bank were up 10% from the first quarter.

“This was a good result in volatile market conditions, and demonstrates the progress we are making as we move towards our mid-term targets,” said UBS CEO, Oswald Grübel. “Our investment bank has improved its competitive positioning, and profits in wealth management & Swiss bank are stable. Our portfolio of businesses is increasingly able to generate competitive returns in a variety of market conditions, and our risk management framework has proven robust. I remain confident in our future and I firmly believe that we have the right strategy in place.”

Looking ahead, UBS said that, “Concerns about the sustainability of the global economic recovery may leave markets volatile and with little direction. We believe that this could lead to more subdued client activity levels across our businesses. In addition, we expect that our portfolio management fee income will be lower than in the second quarter due to the lower level of invested assets at the end of June.”

At the same time, Deutsche Bank reported net income for its second quarter of 1.16 billion euros (US$1.5 billion), up from 1.1 billion euros in the second quarter 2009. Pre-tax profits were 1.5 billion euros, up 16% from the previous year.

Josef Ackermann, chairman of the management board at Deutsche, said that its investment bank saw weaker results, noting that the quarter “was characterized by increased investor uncertainty and higher market volatility.” However, he noted that its private client and asset management businesses, as well as its transactions business, had “very solid” performance and “partially showed improved profitability”.

“Global economic activity is likely to strengthen and the new regulatory framework is finally taking shape. This presents new challenges as well as opportunities. Deutsche Bank considers itself well positioned to continuously creating sustainable value for its shareholders,” he concluded.

IE