National Westminster Bank Plc, which is being taken over by Royal Bank of Scotland, said yesterday its 1999 profit before tax and exceptional items grew 5.6 per cent to £2.263 billion sterling.

The company also revealed it spent £65 million fending off takeover bids from Royal Bank and Bank of Scotland, with £45 million of the cost incurred by the end of 1999.

The 1999 profit had been well-flagged - but the final outcome was somewhat lower than the estimate published by NatWest as part of its final defence against the two predators on January 24th. It had forecast 1999 profits would be 7.6 per cent higher at £2.305 billion, slightly above average expectations at the time for a profit of around £2.28 billion.

Earnings per share were estimated 8.4 per cent higher at 98.9p, against the actual outcome of 96.7p, a 6 per cent rise.

The chairman and group chief executive, Mr David Rowland, said the results were a strong base from which to build additional value. "NatWest is a great business. We shall do everything in our power to aid The Royal Bank of Scotland to achieve successful integration."

There will be no final dividend as Royal Bank's offer was due to be declared wholly unconditional on March 6th, NatWest said. The post-tax return on equity was 19.5 per cent, from 20.0 per cent in 1998. Its tier one capital ratio was 9.2 per cent.

Royal Bank's winning bid for NatWest to create Britain's third largest bank featured a basic offer of 0.968 new share plus 400p cash. There was an alternative of 0.92 new Royal Bank share plus 450p cash. The offer was backed by Spanish banking group Banco Santander Central Hispano SA.