Society suffering, but they’re making record profits (5)
I believe the answer is:
shell
'they're making record profits' is the definition.
(Shell the oil and gas company)
'society suffering' is the wordplay.
'society' becomes 's' (common abbreviation in names of organisations).
'suffering' becomes 'hell' (hell can mean a terrible ordeal).
's'+'hell'='SHELL'
'but' is the link.
(Other definitions for shell that I've seen before include "(Turtle's) carapace" , "Hard outer case" , "Carapace; bombard" , "Carapace or cartridge" , "Empty case" .)