Anglo Irish Bank's share price climbed 8.5 per cent after the bank told shareholders at its annual general meeting that it was sticking with its 15 per cent earnings growth target this year.

Shares in the bank eventually closed up 5.3 per cent at €9.90, having risen earlier above the €10 mark. The bank said its performance in the first four months of its fiscal year had been "strong".

"Notwithstanding the current dislocation in wider financial markets, the first four months of business have been strong," chairman Sean FitzPatrick told shareholders. He said the bank had limited exposure to assets affected by the credit crisis but remained "cautious in our outlook given the risk of further deterioration in the global environment".

"Lending markets are returning to a more traditional relationship-focused approach, suiting balance sheet lenders like ourselves," said Mr FitzPatrick. He said the bank continued to benefit from "very strong funding and liquidity", and that Irish economy remained "sound".

He described Anglo's share price, which has fallen 37 per cent in the past year, as "undeserved" and said the bank "would not entertain a takeover at the current share price". He disagreed with the recent report by European bank UBS, which urged clients to sell stock in Anglo Irish.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Anglo's chief executive David Drumm said the firm would continue lending money to customers it knew who had strong cashflow and who provided personal guarantees and additional securities. "We have always allowed, in how we lend money, for things to get rougher," he said.

He said the bank's lending margins had risen because many US and UK competitors reliant on commercial mortgage-backed securities had left the market. He said there had been no rise in bad debts and "no deterioration in asset quality" in the first four months of the year. He said the bank could double in size over the next four to five years.