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BW20020924000162  20020924T121646Z UTC


( BW)(FORTUNE-BRANDS-INC)(96LG) Dividend Declaration

    Business Editors
    UK REGULATORY NEWS

    LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 24, 2002--Fortune
Brands, Inc. (NYSE: FO), a leading consumer brands company, announced
that its Board of Directors today approved an 8% increase in the
dividend on the Common stock. The dividend will increase to an
indicated annual rate of $1.08 per share (payable 27 cents per
quarter) from $1.00 (25 cents per quarter). The next quarterly
dividend is payable on December 2, 2002 to shareholders of record on
November 6, 2002. This is the largest of six consecutive annual
dividend increases since the company began trading as Fortune Brands
in 1997.

    "This dividend increase underscores two of Fortune Brands'
fundamental strengths: powerful financial resources and consistent
earnings growth," said Fortune Brands chairman & chief executive
officer Norm Wesley. "Fortune Brands is having an excellent year.
We're generating strong cash flow and we're using our financial
strength to invest in the growth of our brands, to make high-return
strategic moves like our acquisition of Omega cabinets, to buy back
shares and to fund an attractive dividend. Increasing the dividend
also reflects our confidence in Fortune Brands' prospects for future
performance."

    Fortune Brands, Inc. is a consumer products company with annual
sales exceeding $5.5 billion. Its operating companies have premier
brands and leading market positions in home and hardware products,
spirits and wine, golf equipment and office products. Home and
hardware brands include Moen faucets, Aristokraft, Schrock and Omega
cabinets, Master Lock padlocks and Waterloo tool storage sold by units
of MasterBrand Industries, Inc. Major spirits and wine brands sold by
units of Jim Beam Brands Worldwide, Inc. include Jim Beam and Knob
Creek bourbons, DeKuyper cordials, The Dalmore single malt Scotch, Vox
vodka and Geyser Peak and Canyon Road wines. Acushnet Company's golf
brands include Titleist, Cobra and FootJoy. Office brands include
Day-Timer, Swingline, Kensington and Wilson Jones sold by units of
ACCO World Corporation. Fortune Brands, headquartered in Lincolnshire,
Illinois, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker
symbol FO and is included in the S&P 500 Index.

    To receive company news releases by e-mail, please visit
www.fortunebrands.com.

    This press release contains statements relating to future results,
which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are
cautioned that these forward-looking statements speak only as of the
date hereof. Actual results may differ materially from those projected
as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not
limited to changes in general economic conditions, foreign exchange
rate fluctuations, changes in interest rates, returns on pension
assets, competitive product and pricing pressures, trade
consolidations, the impact of excise tax increases with respect to
distilled spirits, regulatory developments, the uncertainties of
litigation, changes in golf equipment regulatory standards, the impact
of weather, particularly on the home products and golf brand groups,
expenses and disruptions related to shifts in manufacturing to
different locations and sources, challenges in the integration of
acquisitions and joint ventures, as well as other risks and
uncertainties detailed from time to time in the Company's Securities
and Exchange Commission filings.

   Short Name: Fortune Brands Inc.
   Category Code: DIV
   Sequence Number: 00000827
   Time of Receipt (offset from UTC): 20020924T125719+0100

    --30--as/cgo*

    CONTACT: Fortune Brands, Inc.
             Clarkson Hine, 847/484-4415 (Media Relations)
             Anthony J. Diaz, 847/484-4410 (Investor Relations)
             URL: www.fortunebrands.com

    KEYWORD: ILLINOIS UNITED KINGDOM INTERNATIONAL EUROPE
    INDUSTRY KEYWORD: RETAIL MANUFACTURING CONSUMER/HOUSEHOLD
FOODS/BEVERAGES SPORTS DIVIDEND
    SOURCE: Fortune Brands, Inc.

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