AHMANSON SLAMS RIVAL OVER GW BID : SUITOR TRIES TO BUILD SUPPORT.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Daily News Staff Writer

H.F. Ahmanson & Co. took its hostile pursuit of Great Western Financial Corp. to Manhattan on Monday, telling industry analysts that rival Washington Mutual Inc. exaggerated the benefits of its $6.6 billion bid.

Charles Rinehart, chairman and chief executive of Irwindale-based Ahmanson, tried to build Wall Street support for his company's $6.1 billion bid by telling analysts that Washington Mutual's projection doesn't ``compute,'' especially when it comes to cost savings.

``Washington Mutual has to find a way to compete with a very credible in-market acquisition,'' Rinehart said. ``They have started by materially stretching the envelope in terms of the costs saved. (And) Washington Mutual has been extremely cavalier in terms of what kind of revenues they can produce.''

He did not categorically rule out a higher bid from Ahmanson, but said that it could lower the value of both Ahmanson's and Great Western's stock.

Washington Mutual said the new company could save $340 million a year starting in 1999, in part through closing 200 branches and loan offices, and generate an additional $98 million in revenue.

Ahmanson, meanwhile, said it would close 200 branches and cut costs by $400 million.

But Washington Mutual, based in Seattle, has said its offer will result in less pain because most employee reductions could be handled through attrition.

Rinehart also said that Washington Mutual executives have been ``glib'' in describing his company's offer.

``They describe our $400 million in cost savings as a slash and burn strategy, but somehow or the other when you only do $340 million, that's a growth strategy,'' Rinehart said.

Washington Mutual spokesman Bill Ehrlich offered a succinct rebuttal to Rinehart's statements.

``We completely disagree with the assertions made by H.F. Ahmanson,'' he said.

But Great Western, which has embraced the Washington Mutual offer, had a more pointed response.

``Our basic response is that Ahmanson's presentation today was a desperate and hollow attempt to justify what continues to be an inferior merger proposal and a losing proposition,'' said Great Western spokesman Charles Coleman.

Shares of all three companies rose on Monday. Washington Mutual closed at 54-3/4, up 1-1/2; Great Western closed at 48, up -1/2 and Ahmanson closed at 42-3/8, up -1/4.

Some analysts, after reviewing the bids over the weekend, said that Washington Mutual's offer was based on ``aggressive'' and ``optimistic'' numbers.

``The case can be made that a lot of what Ahmanson said today was valid,'' said John Minor, an analyst at SNL Securities in Charlottesville, Va.