BRIEFCASE.

Byline: -- Staff and Wire Services

Univision flouted pact, suit claims

The founders of a Spanish-language music label sued the label's part owner, Univision Communications Inc., for alleged breach of contract, officials said Tuesday.

The federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles accuses Univision of trying to obstruct a 5-year-old agreement under which the plaintiffs claim the media company is required to purchase the half of Disa Records that it doesn't already own.

Univision bought a 50 percent interest in Disa in 2001 from the Chavez family of Monterey, Mexico, which continues to manage the partnership. A Univision representative could not be reached immediately to comment on the lawsuit.

Yahoo profits hit $164 million

SAN FRANCISCO -- Yahoo Inc. met expectations with a second-quarter profit of $164 million, but dashed hopes that the shift to online advertising would generate even faster growth by the Internet powerhouse.

The company's shares dropped by more than 7 percent on Tuesday's news, released after the stock market closed.

The Sunnyvale-based owner of the world's most-trafficked Web site said it earned $164.3 million, or 11 cents per share in the three months ended June 30. That represented a 78 percent drop from the second quarter of 2005, when Yahoo earned $754.7 million, or 51 cents per share.

The sharp decline is deceiving because Yahoo realized a $552 million windfall in that quarter by selling its remaining stake in one of its biggest rivals, online search leader Google Inc.

IBM's Q2 profit up nearly 11%

International Business Machines Corp.'s second-quarter profit rose nearly 11 percent, slightly exceeding analysts' forecasts despite another period of lackluster revenue growth.

From April through June, IBM earned $2.02 billion, $1.30 per share, on revenue of $21.9 billion, the company said Tuesday. The consensus analyst estimate had been for earnings of $1.29 per share on revenue of $21.9 billion, according to Thomson Financial.

Wells Fargo has record Q2 profits

NEW YORK -- Wells Fargo & Co., the nation's fifth-largest bank, on Tuesday reported record profits in the second quarter, but its earnings per share were a penny shy of Wall Street's expectations.

Wells Fargo's miss marked the second time in as many days that a major bank came in with earnings below expectations because of the current difficult interest rate environment.

Wells Fargo, which is based in San Francisco, said net income totaled $2.09 billion, or $1.23 a share, in the April-June period, up 9 percent from $1.9 billion, or $1.12 a share, a year earlier.