Shares in AIB rose sharply in early trading in Dublin this morning after its Polish unit Bank Zachodni said first quarter net income nearly doubled over the same period last year.
AIB, which is planning to sell its 70 per cent stake in the bank to raise capital, rose 7 cents to €1.53 as of 9am before falling back 4 cents to €1.48 by 1.30pm.
Bank Zachodni said today its net income rose to 233 million zloty (€59.6 million) in the first quarter of this year from 119 million zloty (€30.4 million) in 2009.
The bank's chief executive Mateusz Morawiecki told a press conference today he expects that AIB will complete the sale of its majority stake in the fourth quarter of this year or during the first three months of 2011.
Bidders are to be invited to express an interest in acquiring AIB's stake in June and July with talks to be held through September.
Bank of Ireland also gained in early trading in Dublin but fell back 1 cent to €1.70, while Irish Life & Permanent lost 2 cents to €3.08. Other movers on the Iseq today include C&C, which gained 13 cents to €3.57 after it announced it had sold its spirits division to Scottish firm William Grant & Sons for €300 million.
The Dublin market was trading up to 49.85 points to 3421.76 as of 1.50pm.
Further afield, European shares climbed for a second straight session today, with expectations that a multi-billion-euro aid package for Greece will be hammered out within days helping financials.
At 8.29 am, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.4 per cent at 1,073.81 points after closing 1.3 per cent higher in the previous session. The index is up 66 per cent since hitting a record low in March 2009.
Banks were among the top gainers, with the STOXX Europe 600 banking index rising 0.7 per cent. Greek banks jumped 5 per cent, extending the previous session's rally of 13 per cent.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 all rose slightly.