S&P Changes Ashland's Industry Classification

COVINGTON, Ky., July 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) received notification recently that it is now listed under a new sub-industry group by Standard and Poor's (S&P). S&P, a global provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research, data and valuations, now lists Ashland in the (15101020) Diversified Chemicals sub- industry group of the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS).

 

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"Being listed under the Diversified Chemicals classification better reflects our businesses and should result in a more appropriate market capitalization," said Daragh Porter, vice president, finance and treasurer with responsibility for investor relations.

Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) is a Fortune 500 chemical and transportation construction company providing products, services and customer solutions throughout the world. To learn more about Ashland, visit www.ashland.com.

SOURCE  Ashland Inc.
    -0-                             07/05/2005
    /CONTACT:  Ken Gordon, +1-614-790-1832, or mobile, +1-614-886-4424, or
mkdgordon@ashland.com /
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    /Company News On-Call:  http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/065263.html/
    /Web site:  http://www.ashland.com/
    (ASH)
CO:  Ashland Inc.
ST:  Kentucky
IN:  OIL CHM
SU:
DL-JK
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9400 07/05/2005 09:48 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
Statements in this press release regarding Ashland's business which are not historical
facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a
discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from
those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's
Annual Report or Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.