Thanks a million, says Australian boss

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) – An Australian company stunned its staff by sharing annual profits with its workforce in a one-off bonus payment to every employee.

The directors of the tool hire company Kennards distributed A$1 million (US$570,000) out of their annual profits among the company's 530 staff.

In a move which took all but the board members and four senior staff completely by surprise, each of the workers at the 64 Kennards outlets across Australia received up to A$2,000 (US$1,140).

The unusual move was director Andy Kennard's idea, which he says he took to the board in May after reviewing the company's strong financial results for the year.

"We are in very good financial shape. I said 'why don't we give some of it back to the people who contributed to that?'" Kennard told local press.

He said staff members were not told in advance they were getting the bonus.

The family-owned business, whose motto is 'make your job easy', has been in operation since 1948.