HPS John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III

John Hancock Advisers Releases Portfolio Information for Closed-End Funds BOSTON, May 11 /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, 2004. This information is available on John Hancock Funds' web site at http://www.jhfunds.com/. To order a hard copy of this information, call (800) 225- 6020. 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 Advisers, LLC, a premier investment management company, managed $30.2 billion in open-end funds, closed-end funds, private accounts and retirement plans for individual and institutional investors as of March 31, 2004. Additional information about John Hancock Advisers can be found on the website: http://www.jhfunds.com/. John Hancock Advisers is a wholly owned subsidiary of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc., a subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation. Founded in 1862, John Hancock Financial Services and its subsidiaries today offer a broad range of financial products and services, including whole, term, variable, and universal life insurance, as well as college savings products, mutual funds, fixed and variable annuities, long-term care insurance and various forms of business insurance. Manulife Financial is the fifth largest life insurer in the world, and the second largest in North America, based on market capitalization as of April 27, 2004. Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Pro forma funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries, including John Hancock, were US$271.6 billion (Cdn$355.9 billion) as of March 31, 2004. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '0945' on the SEHK. DATASOURCE: John Hancock Advisers, LLC CONTACT: Media, Kimberley Dietrich, +1-617-375-0311, or Investor, +1-800-843-0090

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