Ashland Inc. Board Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend

COVINGTON, Ky., Jan. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The board of directors of Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) today declared the regular quarterly dividend of 27.5 cents per common share on the company's stock, equivalent to an annual dividend of $1.10 per share.

 

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040113/ASHLANDLOGO )

This action marks the 274th consecutive quarterly dividend paid on common shares. Ashland began paying dividends in December 1936.

This dividend will be payable on March 15, 2005, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Feb. 21, 2005. As of Dec. 31, 2004, there were 72,084,548 shares outstanding.

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

SOURCE  Ashland Inc.
    -0-                             01/26/2005
    /CONTACT:  Jim Vitak, Media Relations, +1-614-790-3715, or
jevitak@ashland.com, or Bill Henderson, Investor Relations, +1-859-815-4454,
or wehenderson@ashland.com, both of Ashland Inc. /
    /Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040113/ASHLANDLOGO
             AP Archive:  http://photoarchive.ap.org
             PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com/
    /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
SU:  DIV
JK-JJ
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9877 01/26/2005 17:26 EST 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.