Table:
|  | 2019 | 2018 | Per cent |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | $ million | $ million | change |
| Employee remuneration costs1 | 220.5 | 208.9 | 5.6 |
| Distributions to shareholders2 | 28.6 | 54.8 | (47.8) |
| Adjusted operating profit3 | 92.9 | 77.1 | 20.5 |
Paragraphs:
Relative importance of the spend on pay
The following table shows the total expenditure on pay for all of the Company’s employees compared to distributions to shareholders by way of dividend. In order to provide context for these figures, adjusted operating profit is also shown.
Notes
1. Remuneration, social security costs, pension and other related costs and expense of share-based payment (see Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements).
2. Dividends declared and paid in the year include a special dividend paid in 2018 (see Note 12 of the Consolidated Financial Statements). Removing the Special Dividend would give a figure for 2018 of $24.9 million with an increase of 14.86 per cent to the 2019 figure of $28.6 million.
3. Before exceptional items, acquisition related costs, acquired tangible asset amortisation and share-based payment amounting to $4.3 million in total (2018 $19.6 million) (see Note 3 of the Consolidated Financial Statements).
Question:
What was the change in adjusted operating profit?
Answer: 92.9-77.1 = 15.8