BUSINESS MEMO: A MONEYMAKING FUTURE?

After three years of surprise billion-dollar profits, the U.S. Postal Service is pushing to be debt-free by 1999, reversing a history of poor performance and financial returns.

Postal money manager Michael J. Riley believes the increased profits have led to growing pride among mail carriers and executives and could mean a moneymaking future for the agency.

The Postal Service will finish 1997 with a $1.26 billion profit. That follows profits of $1.77 billion in 1995 and $1.57 billion in 1996. The strong three-year performance trimmed the agency's long-term financial deficiency from $5.9 billion to $1.36 billion.