John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III Declares Monthly Dividend

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III Declares Monthly Dividend



BOSTON, June 2  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- John Hancock Preferred Income Fund
III (NYSE:HPS) declared its regular monthly dividend as follows:

   Declaration Date:   June 2, 2004
   Ex Date:            June 10, 2004
   Record Date:        June 14, 2004
   Payment Date:       July 1, 2004
   Dividend Amount:    $0.1800



This dividend equates to an annualized yield of 9.61 percent, based on the
fund's closing market price as of June 1, 2004.

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 Preferred Income Fund III



CONTACT:  Kimberley Dietrich, [phone], or Investor Contact,

[phone], both of John Hancock Advisers, LLC

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