Call forward

With all the attention focused on large new banks jumping into Florida, Fifth Third Bank's significant presence on the Gulf Coast has been somewhat overlooked.

That's partly because its executives have been busy fixing problem loans from the development bust and there's been turnover in the corner office. But David Call, who began his appointment as president and chief executive officer of Fifth Third Bank's South Florida operations on Oct. 13, says he's seeing some signs of improvement.

Two weeks into his job, Fifth Third acquired the four branches of Freedom Bank in Bradenton. Although Freedom was a relatively small acquisition, it was an indication the bank is beginning to recover from its big push into Florida in early 2005 when it bought Naples-based First National Bankshares of Florida at the peak of the market. At the time, First National had about $5.3 billion in assets and 77 branches from Orlando to Tampa, Sarasota, Naples and Fort Myers.