By Jeff McKinney
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Fifth Third Bank employees have 3,000 more reasons to show up for work.

The region's largest banking company will distribute $48.5 million in profit sharing to workers in the wake of the bank's 2003 profits.

The payout means eligible employees will get an average of $3,000 each, or about 10 percent of their eligible annual base salary. About 3 percent of that amount will go directly into their 401(k) accounts this week, and the rest was paid in 2003.

All employees with at least one year of service are eligible to get bonuses.

Fifth Third, with $1.75 billion in profits last year, has paid more than $412.5 million in profit sharing to employees the last 49 years.

Fifth Third has about 19,000 employees, mainly in eight Midwestern states, including more than 7,000 in Greater Cincinnati.