FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 15, 2006

Hancock Holding Company increases quarterly dividend

GULFPORT, MS (August 15, 2006) - Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ: HBHC) today announced that the company's board of directors approved a regular third quarter 2006 common stock cash dividend of $0.24 per share - a per share increase of $0.02, or 9 percent from the previous quarter's regular common stock cash dividend.

Hancock has increased its common dividend twice in 2006, for a total increase of 22 percent.

Approved during the company's August board of directors meeting, the regular third quarter common stock cash dividend is payable September 15, 2006, to shareholders of record as of September 5, 2006.

"We are very pleased to announce another increase in the return our shareholders receive on their investments in Hancock Holding Company. The company's strong performance reflects both our shareholders' confidence in the Hancock organization and the ongoing efforts of our entire Hancock team to preserve the strength, stability, integrity, and service that have distinguished Hancock as a financial services leader for 107 years," said Hancock Holding Company President Leo W. Seal, Jr.

Hancock Holding Company - parent company of Hancock Bank (Mississippi), Hancock Bank of Louisiana, Hancock Bank of Florida, and Magna Insurance Company - has assets of $6.26 billion. Founded in 1899, Hancock Bank stands among the strongest, safest financial institutions in the United States and is the only financial services company headquartered in the Gulf South to rate among the top 20 percent of America's top-performing banks. Hancock offers comprehensive financial solutions through more than 140 banking and financial services offices and more than 130 automated teller machines across South Mississippi, Louisiana, southern Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. Additional corporate information and on-line banking and bill pay services are available online.

"SAFE HARBOR" STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: Congress passed the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995 in an effort to encourage corporations to provide information about companies' anticipated future financial performance. This act provides a safe harbor for such disclosure, which protects the companies from unwarranted litigation if actual results are different from management expectations. This release contains forward-looking statements and reflects management's current views and estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, Company performance, and financial results. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties which could cause the Company's actual results and experience to differ from the anticipated results and expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION
Carl J. Chaney, Chief Financial Officer
Paul D. Guichet, VP, Investor Relations
800.522.6542 or 228.563.6559