HPS John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III Declares Monthly Dividend BOSTON, April 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III declared its regular monthly dividend as follows: Declaration Date: April 7, 2004 Ex Date: April 15, 2004 Record Date: April 19, 2004 Payment Date: May 3, 2004 Dividend Amount: $0.1800 This dividend equates to an annualized yield of 8.81 percent, based on the fund's closing market price as of April 6, 2004. John Hancock Advisers, LLC, a premier investment management company, managed $29.3 billion in open-end funds, closed-end funds, private accounts and retirement plans for individual and institutional investors as of December 31, 2003. John Hancock Advisers, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:JHF). John Hancock and its affiliated companies provide a broad array of insurance and investment products and services to retail and institutional customers. As of December 31, 2003, John Hancock Financial Services and its subsidiaries had total assets under management of $142.5 billion. DATASOURCE: John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III CONTACT: Kimberley Dietrich, +1-617-375-0311, or Investors, +1-800-843-0090, both of John Hancock Advisers, LLC

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