STT State Street Corporation

S&P Announces Year-End DividendAristocrat Changes Leading Index Provider Finds 27 Smaller Issues With Similar Dividend Characteristics NEW YORK, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's, the leading provider of independent investment research, ratings and indices, announced today changes to its S&P 500 DiviendAristocrat list. Beginning in 2005, State Street Corp (NYSE:STT) will be added to the current list of 58 issues, and SouthTrust (SOTR) will be removed. The S&P 500 DividendAristocrat membership consists of those companies in the S&P 500 that have increased their actual dividend payments in each of the last 25 years. In total, the DividendAristocrat members implemented 58 dividend increases in 2004. 3 members (Donnelley & Sons, US Bancorp and VF Corp) did not take regular rate action, but paid out more this year than they did in 2003. No reductions in dividend rates or payments took place within the DividendAristocrats list in 2004. Standard & Poor's also determined that 27 smaller issues, within the S&P MidCap400 and S&P SmallCap600 Indices, fit the S&P DividendAristocrat criteria. Standard & Poor's has incorporated these issues into a supplemental list that, along with the full list of DividendAristocrats and the current indicated dividend rate, can be found by accessing http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices . Year-End Summary of Dividend Activity Among S&P 500 issues, dividend activity increased in 2004, with 10 issues initiating a cash policy. Currently, 376 issues pay cash dividends in the S&P 500, compared to 351 at year-end 2002, when the turnaround in paying dividends began. To date, there are 269 rate increases in the S&P 500 compared to 240 for the corresponding period in 2003. Reductions and suspensions were fewer in 2004, with only 5 issues lowering their rate compared to 16 in 2003. The average rate increase in dividends in 2004 is 20.4%, with the year poised to set a record dividend payment of $185 billion. In sectors, Financials saw the most increases in dividend payers in 2004. Information Technology, typically a laggard in the dividend category, saw 16 increases and a record setting special dividend payment by Microsoft of $32.6 billion. With 36% of the S&P 500 directly held by individuals, dividends (net of federal income taxes) directly paid to individuals grew by 15%, from $49.1 billion in 2003 to $56.6 billion in 2004 (excluding the MSFT special), and by 73% from the $35.6 billion net in 2002. Standard & Poor's estimates that through the end of 2008, when the current reduced dividend tax rate is slated to end, individuals will directly save over $100 billion. For 2005, Standard & Poor's expects that over half the issues in the S&P 500 will increase their dividend payment. In addition, Standard & Poor's expects additional issues to initiate a dividend policy in 2005. The fiscal 2005 S&P 500 cash dividend payment is estimated to set a new record with an excess of $200 billion returned to investors. S&P 500 SECTOR ISSUES INCREASES INITIAL DECREASES SUSPENSIONS (at time of action) Consumer Discretionary 85 47 2 0 0 Consumer Staples 37 24 1 0 1 Energy 27 13 1 0 0 Financials 81 70 0 1 0 Health Care 53 15 0 1 0 Industrials 59 36 2 0 0 Information Technology 81 16 1 1 1 Materials 33 21 2 0 0 Telecommunication Services 11 4 1 0 0 Utilities 33 23 0 0 0 Total 500 269 10 3 2 Standard & Poor's 500 DividendAristocrats - 2005 3M CO JOHNSON CONTROLS ABBOTT LABORATORIES KEYCORP ALLTEL CORP KIMBERLY-CLARK ALTRIA GROUP LEGGETT & PLATT AMSOUTH BANCORP LILLY (ELI) ANHEUSER-BUSCH COS LOWE'S COS ARCHER-DANIELS-MIDLAND MARSH & MCLENNAN AUTOMATIC DATA PROC MASCO CORP AVERY DENNISON CORP MAY DEPT STORES BANK OF AMERICA MCDONALD'S CORP BARD (C.R.) MCGRAW-HILL COMPANIES BECTON, DICKINSON MERCK & CO CENTURYTEL INC NUCOR CORP CHUBB CORP PEPSICO INC CLOROX CO PFIZER, INC COCA-COLA CO PPG INDUS COMERICA INC PROCTER & GAMBLE CONAGRA FOODS REGIONS FINANCIAL CONSOLIDATED EDISON ROHM & HAAS DONNELLEY(R.R.)& SONS SIGMA-ALDRICH DOVER CORP STANLEY WORKS EMERSON ELECTRIC STATE STREET CORP FAMILY DOLLAR STORES SUPERVALU INC FIRST HORIZON NATL SYSCO CORP GANNETT CO TARGET CORP GENL ELECTRIC U.S. BANCORP GRAINGER (W.W.) VF CORP JEFFERSON-PILOT WAL-MART STORES JOHNSON & JOHNSON WALGREEN CO S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap600 Supplementary list ABM INDUS INC (SCI600) AMER STATES WATER (SCI600) BLACK HILLS CORP (MIDCAP) CARLISLE COS (MIDCAP) DIEBOLD, INC (MIDCAP) FULLER (H.B.) (SCI600) HAVERTY FURNITURE (SCI600) HILLENBRAND INDUS (MIDCAP) HORMEL FOODS (MIDCAP) LANCASTER COLONY (MIDCAP) MERCANTILE BANKSHARES (MIDCAP) MYERS INDUS (SCI600) NATL FUEL GAS (MIDCAP) NORTHWEST NATURAL GAS (SCI600) PENTAIR, INC (MIDCAP) PIEDMONT NATURAL GAS (SCI600) QUAKER CHEMICAL CORPORATION (SCI600) QUESTAR CORP (MIDCAP) RLI CORP (SCI600) RPM INTL (MIDCAP) TELEFLEX INC (MIDCAP) TELEPHONE & DATA SYS (MIDCAP) TOOTSIE ROLL INDUS (MIDCAP) VALSPAR CORP (MIDCAP) VECTREN CORP (MIDCAP) WGL HOLDINGS (MIDCAP) WPS RESOURCES (MIDCAP) A company's dividend payment history and dividend paying prospects are not factors that are considered by Standard & Poor's in identifying companies for inclusion in or exclusion from an S&P index. About Standard & Poor's Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research, data and valuations. With 6,000 employees located in 21 countries, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com/ . DATASOURCE: Standard & Poor's CONTACT: David Guarino Communications Standard & Poor's +1-212-438-1471 Howard Silverblatt Market Equity Analyst Standard & Poor's +1-212-438-3916 Web site: http://www.standardandpoors.com/ http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices

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