John Hancock Patriot Preferred Dividend Fund Declares Monthly Dividend

John Hancock Patriot Preferred Dividend Fund Declares Monthly
Dividend 


BOSTON, March 31  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- John Hancock Patriot Preferred
Dividend Fund  declared its regular monthly dividend today as follows:

   Declaration Date:   March 31, 2004
   Ex Date:            April 7, 2004
   Record Date:        April 12, 2004
   Payment Date:       April 30, 2004
   Dividend Amount:    $0.0720



This dividend equates to an annualized yield of 5.82 percent, based on the
fund's closing market price as of March 30, 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 Patriot Preferred Dividend Fund



CONTACT: Media: Kimberley Dietrich, [phone], or Investors: +1-

800-843-0090, both of John Hancock Advisers, LLC

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