News/Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 22, 2005

Hancock Holding Company exec's present at Sterne, Agee, & Leach seminar

     GULFPORT, MS (February 22, 2005) - Senior executives of Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ: HBHC), the parent company of 105-year-old Hancock Bank, presented a corporate overview to attendees at the Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc., Mississippi Banking Seminar today, February 22, 2005, in Jackson, MS.

At the meeting, Hancock's chief executive officer George A. Schloegel and investor relations vice president Paul D. Guichet reviewed the company's recent financial performance and business strategies.

Investors and analysts can access a copy of the presentation by selecting the Investor Relations link on the bank's web site.

Hancock Holding Company is the parent company of Hancock Bank Mississippi, Hancock Bank of Louisiana, Hancock Bank of Florida, and Magna Insurance Company and has assets of $4.7 billion. Founded in 1899, Hancock Bank consistently ranks among America's strongest, safest financial institutions. Hancock Bank operates 102 full-service offices and more than 140 automated teller machines throughout South Mississippi, Louisiana, and the Florida Panhandle, as well as subsidiaries Hancock Investment Services, Inc., Hancock Insurance Agency, and Harrison Finance Company.

"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.

— 30 —

FOR MORE INFORMATION
R. Paul Maxwell, VP & Corporate Communications Manager
(228) 214-5252 or 1.800.522.6542 (x.85252)
paul_maxwell@hancockbank.com