By Jeff McKinney
Enquirer staff writer

Fifth Third Bancorp has cut 354 jobs in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky region since mid-2003 as the banking giant trimmed costs and sold some businesses.

The total number of full-time employees at Fifth Third in the Cincinnati region dropped to 7,378 at the end of second quarter this year, down from 7,732 in the same period last year, the Cincinnati-based parent of Fifth Third Bank said.

In the Midwestern states, Fifth Third's full-time employment has dropped to 18,937 as of June 30, compared with 19,830 as of June 2003. Most of the cuts occurred in the third and fourth quarters of 2003.

Fifth Third also said in a regulatory filing that it expects to cut operating expenses in the third quarter by $22 million. The bank also expects to cut another $78 million in costs from the early retirement of advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank.

Most of the job cuts came as the bank sold or automated some non-core businesses.

Those businesses include stock transfer, corporate trust, human resources and corporate facilities.

Fifth Third also eliminated some jobs in its mortgage-banking operations, including mortgage loan officers and mortgage loan processors and other back-office positions in that area. Those cuts came as mortgage interest rates rose and demand for home loans dropped.

"The bottom line is that our business has to be scalable," Robbie Jennings, Fifth Third's spokeswoman, said. "We have a responsibility to operate as efficiently as possible."

The job reductions also came as Fifth Third has added 58 branches in its nine-state operating territory from January through August. It plans to add another 30 to 40 branches by year's end, including one in downtown Pittsburgh.

Even after the cuts, Fifth Third plans to hire. The bank said it is trying to fill job openings for 1,200 people companywide, including about 400 in Greater Cincinnati.

Fifth Third also said it expects third-quarter, net interest income to rise at a single-digit rate from the year-ago period.

Fifth Third's stock closed Monday unchanged at $48.50.

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E-mail jmckinney@enquirer.com