News In Brief

Chrysler reports surge in 1st-quarter profits

The Chrysler Corporation said Wednesday it earned $705.8 million in the first quarter of 1984, which is more than the company has made in any full year in its history.

The earnings, equivalent to $5.64 per share of common stock, came on a 58 percent increase in sales, from $3.1 billion to a record $4.9 billion, Chrysler said in a statement.

''This is the payoff,'' Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca said in a statement.

''The cost cutting, the productivity improvements, and, most important, the innovative new products have resulted in the best financial quarter in Chrysler's history.''