Note 4 Profit on ordinary activities before taxation

	1997 £m	1996 £m
Profit on ordinary activities is stated after charging the following:	___________________________________
Depreciation and amortisation	317	285
Operating lease costs	124	114
Auditors' remuneration (a)	-	-
Employment costs (note 5)	1,354	1,184
Net loss on disposal of fixed assets (b)	-	6
a) Auditors' remuneration amounted to £0.5m (1996 - £0.5m) and includes £0.1m (1996 - £0.1m) for the company. The auditors also received £0.6m (1996 - £0.6m) in respect of non-audit services of which £0.4m (1996 - £0.3m) related to overseas operations principally in respect of acquisitions and group restructuring. b) Net loss on disposal of fixed assets has been arrived at after the offset of profits of £37m (1996 - £10m).