Hancock Bank of Alabama taps Simpson as Mobile retail banking exec'

Mark L. Simpson VP & Mobile Division Manager

     MOBILE, AL (May 30, 2007) - Veteran area banker and Mobile resident Mark L. Simpson has joined Hancock Bank of Alabama as the company's Mobile market retail division manager, according to an announcement this week by Hancock senior management.

     Simpson, a lifelong resident of the Gulf Coast, will oversee the strategic expansion of Hancock Bank of Alabama's branch network in Mobile and Baldwin counties. The Hancock vice president has more than 30 years of consumer and commercial business leadership experience in the south Alabama and Florida Panhandle financial services arena and, most recently, managed market growth for a 13-branch Mobile district retail banking team with 128-plus associates.

     "Hancock Bank has a 108-year-old tradition of relying on local leadership to direct innovative financial services most beneficial to local customers. We are very pleased Mark Simpson has chosen to join the Hancock Bank of Alabama family. We believe his extensive professional experience and his knowledge of the metropolitan Mobile community will help Hancock fulfill its mission of helping local families and businesses achieve their financial goals and dreams," said Ricky Hill, the senior executive overseeing Hancock's Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana retail banking operations.

     Simpson, a Florida State University alumnus, earned his Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation more than 10 years ago and holds Series 6 and 63 licenses. He has been actively involved in numerous business and civic organizations throughout the region, including Rotary, Kiwanis, and local chambers of commerce. He is a past multi-term president of the Florida American Institute of Banking (AIB) and has been an instructor for several AIB courses. Simpson and his wife are permanent residents of Mobile. Their youngest daughter attends Florida State University, and their oldest daughter lives and works in Pensacola.

     "The founding ideals values which Hancock Bank has sustained for more than a century - honor and integrity, strength and stability, commitment to service, teamwork, and personal responsibility - reflect the same fundamental values that remain important to those of us who live, work, and raise families in this beautiful, thriving city. We're building a strong retail banking team to facilitate commerce and opportunity for the area and look forward to growing with the community," said Simpson.

     With the opening of its downtown Mobile financial center at 127 Dauphin Street earlier this month, Hancock announced plans for up to five additional locations in Mobile and Baldwin counties by year-end 2007.

     Simpson's move to Hancock Bank of Alabama follows the appointment last week of longtime Alabama banker Jerry M. Broughton as Hancock's Mobile market president responsible for managing the company's commercial growth throughout Mobile and the Eastern Shore.

About Hancock Bank

     Founded October 9, 1899, Hancock Bank operates more than 150 banking and financial services offices and 130-plus ATMs in southern Alabama, South Mississippi, the Florida Panhandle, and south central Louisiana. Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ: HBHC) - parent company of Hancock Bank of Alabama, Hancock Bank Mississippi, Hancock Bank of Florida, and Hancock Bank of Louisiana - has assets of more than $6 billion. Bank subsidiaries include Hancock Investment Services, Inc., Hancock Insurance Agency, and Harrison Finance Company. Additionally, the company operates corporate trust offices in Gulfport, Jackson, MS, New Orleans, and Baton Rouge. Hancock's trust department, a division of the wealth management group, has assets of $7.4 billion, with assets under management of $2.31 billion, as of December 31, 2006.

     Hancock is the only financial services company headquartered in the Gulf South to rate among the top 20 percent of America's top-performing banks and consistently ranks as one of the country's strongest, safest financial institutions, according to Veribanc, Inc., and BauerFinancial Services, Inc. Thomson Financial also recently listed Hancock as the ninth largest corporate trustee bank in the United States.

More corporate information and online banking are available at www.hancockbank.com.

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