15. SHARE CAPITAL		1997 US$m	1996 US$m
Authorized
2,500,000,000 shares of US¢5 each		125.0	125.0
500,000 shares of US$800 each		400.0	400.0
		525.0	525.0

	No. of shares in millions
	1997	1996	1997 US$m	1996 US$m
Issued and fully paid
Ordinary shares of US¢5 each:
At 1st January	1,756.8	1,726.2	87.8	86.3
Scrip issued in lieu of dividends	69.6	30.6	3.5	1.5
Exercise of share options	2.9	-	0.2	-
At 31st December	1,829.3*	1,756.8*	91.5	87.8
	No. of shares
	1997	1996
Convertible cumulative preference shares of US$800 each:
At 31st January	208,867	208,878	167.1	167.1
Conversion into ordinary shares	(2)	(11)	-	-
At 31st December	208,865	208,867	167.1	167.1
Total issued share capital			258.6	254.9
The preference shares are convertable into ordinary shares of the Company on the basis of 678.1 ordinary shares for each preference share and, if fully converted, would result in the issue of approximately 141.6 million ordinary shares. This excludes 33.4 million (1996: 26.8 million) ordinary shares issued to the Trustee of the Company's Senior Executive Share Incentive Schemes (note 16).