BUSINESS MEMO: CHRYSLER EARNINGS UP

After decades of financial ups and downs, Chrysler Corp. announced its second-best annual profit and a near-record $7,900 average profit-sharing payment for 96,500 U.S. workers.

Chrysler, which disclosed its fourth quarter and 1996 earnings recently, has benefited from the boom in sport utility vehicles, pickups and minivans, which represented 66 percent of its sales last year. More importantly, Chrysler is the leanest of the Big Three automakers.

For the year, Chrysler posted a $3.5 billion profit, surpassed only by 1994's $3.7 billion. The 1996 profit amounted to $4.77 a share, compared with $2 billion, or $2.65 a share, in the previous year. Revenue of $61.4 billion for 1996 was an all-time high for the company.