FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2006

Hancock Holding Company to announce second quarter 2006 earnings

GULFPORT, MS (June 23, 2006) - Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ: HBHC) announced today that the company will release earnings results for the second quarter after the close of business on Tuesday, July 18, 2006.

Hancock Holding Company - parent company of Hancock Bank (Mississippi), Hancock Bank of Louisiana, Hancock Bank of Florida, and Magna Insurance Company - has assets of approximately $6.3 billion at March 31, 2006.

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. Additional information about Hancock's comprehensive lines of consumer and business banking services is 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.

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