HPS John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III

John Hancock Advisers Releases Portfolio Information for Closed-End Funds BOSTON, May 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- John Hancock Advisers, LLC announced today that portfolio information, such as performance, top-ten holdings and sector weightings, is available for its closed-end funds as of April 30, 2005. This information is available on John Hancock Funds' web site at http://www.jhfunds.com/. To order a hard copy of this information or additional closed-end fund literature, call (800) 892-9552. Investors may also call John Hancock's automated closed-end funds information line, (800) 843-0090. John Hancock Patriot Premium Dividend Fund I (NYSE:PDF) John Hancock Patriot Premium Dividend Fund II (NYSE:PDT) John Hancock Patriot Select Dividend Trust (NYSE:DIV) John Hancock Patriot Global Dividend Fund (NYSE:PGD) John Hancock Patriot Preferred Dividend Fund (NYSE:PPF) John Hancock Preferred Income Fund (NYSE:HPI) John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II (NYSE:HPF) John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III (NYSE:HPS) John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE:HTD) John Hancock Investors Trust (NYSE:JHI) John Hancock Income Securities Trust (NYSE:JHS) John Hancock Financial Trends Fund (NASDAQ:JHFT) John Hancock Bank and Thrift Opportunity Fund (NYSE:BTO) John Hancock Funds, a premier investment management company, managed $31.3 billion in open-end funds, closed-end funds, private accounts and retirement plans for individual and institutional investors and related party assets as of December 31, 2004. Additional information about the company can be found on the website: http://www.jhfunds.com/. John Hancock Funds is a wholly owned subsidiary of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc., which is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and most of Asia, and primarily through John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$348 billion (US$289 billion) as of December 31, 2004. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '0945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at http://www.manulife.com/. The John Hancock unit, through its insurance companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in the United States. John Hancock Financial Services offers a broad range of financial products and services, including whole life, term life, variable life, and universal life insurance, as well as college savings products, fixed and variable annuities, long-term care insurance, mutual funds and various forms of business insurance. DATASOURCE: John Hancock Advisers, LLC CONTACT: Kimberley Dietrich, +1-617-375-0311, or Investors: +1-800-843-0090, both of John Hancock Web Site: http://www.jhfunds.com/ http://www.manulife.com/

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