(FORTUNE Magazine) – Few savings and loan chairmen take home 20% of their thrift's annual profit. Yet Unity's David Roberts did; he received an estimated $672,000 in total compensation during fiscal 1987, when Unity's net income was $3.4 million. Unity is a healthy, four-branch S&L in Beverly Hills with assets of $415 million. Roberts and Maxwell Hillary Salter, a Beverly Hills city councilman, own 47% of the common stock. Roberts also owns a real estate company and half the Pritikin International health centers, and until September he owned a second thrift. Last year regulators stopped Unity from paying salaries of people Roberts employed in his outside businesses. Says Roberts: ''It was only two persons. We are careful to protect Unity's integrity.'' The stock trades at $10 a share over the counter, 25% below book value.

Electronic Arts Inc. The depression plaguing home computer software producers has left Electronic Arts unscathed. The San Mateo, California, firm made money in each of the past 12 quarters and earned $5.2 million pretax last year. Electronic Arts sells 60% of its software -- mostly fantasy games and sports simulations -- directly to retailers through its own sales force. This strategy gives the company more control over prices and distribution than its competitors have. Last year revenues reached $30 million, tops in the industry. Electronic Arts is private, but perhaps not for long. Company officers and venture capitalists like Ben Rosen want to realize a profit on their investment. Says senior vice president Timothy Mott: ''We may be going public.''

Selectronics Inc. A credit card-size electronic dictionary/thesaurus may spell 400% more profits and revenues for this Minneapolis company next year. According to Mike Weiner, president of Microlytics Inc., co-developer of the technology, a major financial services company has placed a firm order for 200,000 units of the Wordfinder, which will sell for about $100. Says Weiner: ''All told, the company could sell as many as a million.'' If true, Selectronics won't long . remain a ten-person shop with annual sales of $6.9 million and net income of $1.1 million. Abandoned by notorious underwriter Blinder Robinson almost at birth in December 1983, the company's stock has survived four years in the obscurity of the pink sheets. In September Selectronics got listed on the Nasdaq, where it traded recently at $3 a share on yearly earnings of 10 cents.

CLC of America Inc. New York investors are trying to right this bankrupt St. Louis barge company. CLC sank into Chapter 11 in January 1986 because federal maritime subsidies and tax shelters kept too many barges afloat when there was little cargo to be shipped. As grain exports have risen, so has the demand for CLC's barges. The company earned $1.5 million in 1987's second quarter, vs. a $2.1-million loss a year ago. Meanwhile, the family of New York Congressman James Scheuer, which owned about 20% of CLC before bankruptcy, has invested an additional $20 million. If CLC's creditors approve, the Scheuers will receive roughly 45% of the new common stock to be issued later this year. One security analyst estimates the family's average cost per share at less than $1, ''a gift'' compared with the $1.75 CLC recently traded for on the New York Stock Exchange. The reorganization will dilute the equity of existing shareholders, so this analyst suggests investors buy the new common.