HELICOPTER maker Westland yesterday forecast a 15% boost in pre-tax

profits this year in a last-ditch attempt to fend off a hostile #500m

takeover bid by GKN, the defence equipment and industrial services

group.

The #35m prediction for the year to September 30 compares with #30.5m

in the previous 12 months.

Westland tempted shareholders to stay loyal to the present management

with the forecast of a 6% dividend increase to 4.75p per share, plus an

extra payout from money expected from a long-running legal dispute.

The cash is due from the settlement of claims relating to a cancelled

Middle East contract and Westland said it would distribute the proceeds,

starting with a special dividend of 5p per share next February.

''This is in contrast to GKN's proposal to withhold the first #82m for

its own benefit,'' Westland, which is based at Yeovil, Somerset, told

shareholders in a last defence document issued today.

Chairman Alan Jones dismissed the GKN offer as wholly inadequate and

said the current management team had delivered outstanding results over

the last five years.

GKN, based at Redditch, Worcestershire, already controls almost 45% of

Westland and needs only just over another 5% of its shares to take over.

It has until next Monday to make its final offer, but will probably

retaliate to the Westland forecasts within 72 hours because of the

upcoming Easter holiday weekend.

GKN has had its eye on Westland for several years. In 1988 it bought a

28% stake with a view to taking it over, but the end of the Cold War

prompted concerns about future defence orders, putting bid prospects on

ice.

However, it now reckons the long-term outlook for Westland, under GKN

control, is bright with battlefield mobility -- in which helicopters

play a vital role -- becoming a key part of future defence strategy.

Alan Jones dismissed the GKN offer as wholly inadequate and said the

current management team had delivered outstanding results over the last

five years.

GKN, however, dismissed the last-ditch defence document and declined

the chance to raise its #500m bid.

GKN said Westland's profit increase had largely been achieved by a

one-off property sale and operating profits were actually forecast to

fall by #500,000.

''There is little new of any substance in Westland's document, and

what there is must be disappointing for Westland shareholders,'' it

said.

Sir David Lees, chairman of GKN, added: ''We find it remarkable that

Westland could provide nothing more at this stage of the bid. There is

nothing in it to change our view of the value of Westland.''