It's a sign of great contentment when the biggest gripe from shareholders at Anglo Irish Bank's annual general meeting is having to endure listening to the lengthy and boring auditor's report.

One man asked the chairman, Mr Peter Murray, if it was necessary to inflict such tedium on the hundreds of happy shareholders every year, and could he look into abolishing it in 2005? "Tedious is the kindest word I can use about it," one shareholder remarked.

Mr Murray said the bank had enjoyed an excellent first quarter with profits well up on the same period last year and ahead of budget. He told shareholders yesterday that the bank had some €3 billion in work in progress at the start of this year, the highest level in the bank's history.

"Your board is encouraged by the positive initial performance achieved across all three divisions which points to a very strong full-year outturn for 2004. Indeed, the strong lending activity to date together with our current pipeline also gives us real confidence in respect of the bank's prospects for 2005."

Last year was the bank's strongest year to date and its strong performance has been reflected in its share price, which yesterday continued to trade well ahead of AIB and Bank of Ireland.

The bank's chief executive of 22 years, Mr Seán FitzPatrick, has said that he intends to step down at the end of this year or early next year and that his successor is likely to be one of the existing management team.

The bank's five executive directors shared almost €8 million last year, of which Mr FitzPatrick received €2.3 million.