Ashland Inc. Board Increases Stock Repurchase Authority and Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend

COVINGTON, Ky., Jan. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) announced today that its board of directors in separate actions increased the authorization for the purchase of its common shares to $250 million and 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)

Originally authorized in July 2005 in the amount of $270 million, the stock repurchase program is designed to purchase shares from time to time in the open market. Through December 31, 2005, $196 million of Ashland shares had been repurchased under the original authorization at an average price of $55.40 per share, with $74 million authorization remaining. The increased authorization brings the total amount of the program to $250 million.

"The increased share repurchase authorization indicates the board's confidence in the future and direction of Ashland and clearly demonstrates our commitment to deliver value to our shareholders," said James J. O'Brien, Ashland's chairman and chief executive officer.

The regular dividend will be payable on March 15, 2006, to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 20, 2006. As of December 31, 2005, there were 71,265,118 shares outstanding.

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-                             01/25/2006
    /CONTACT:  Media, Jim Vitak, +1-614-790-3715, or jevitak@ashland.com, or
Investors, Daragh Porter, +1-859-815-3825, or dlporter@ashland.com, both of
Ashland Inc./
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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 TRN CST
SU:  DIV
JE-AK
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3958 01/25/2006 16:20 EST http://www.prnewswire.com