Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE: FO), the consumer company behind leading brands including Moen, Titleist and Jim Beam, announced that its Board of Directors today approved an increase in the dividend on the common stock. The dividend will increase 12 cents to an annual rate of $1.44 per share (payable 36 cents per quarter) from $1.32 per share (33 cents per quarter). The next quarterly dividend is payable on September 1, 2005 to shareholders of record at the close of business August 5, 2005.

"We're pleased that we've increased the dividend for the ninth year in a row since we began trading as Fortune Brands in 1997," said Fortune Brands chairman & CEO Norm Wesley. "In addition to our consistently strong operating performance, this dividend increase reflects the strength of our cash flow and balance sheet, even as we fund a $5 billion acquisition. Boosting the dividend is another tangible demonstration of how Fortune Brands uses its financial strength to drive shareholder value higher. We're creating value with our major spirits and wine acquisition and the upcoming spin-off of our office products business, we're continuing to invest in the growth of our leading brands and we're also putting our financial strength to work for shareholders through an attractive dividend. Importantly, this action also underscores our confidence in Fortune Brands' future as we focus more sharply on our highest return consumer categories."

The company also declared a regular dividend of 66.75 cents per share on the $2.67 Convertible Preferred Stock, payable in cash on September 10, 2005 to shareholders of record at the close of business August 5, 2005.

Fortune Brands, Inc. is a $7 billion leading consumer brands company. Its operating companies have premier brands and leading market positions in home and hardware products, spirits and wine, golf equipment and office products. Home and hardware brands include Moen faucets, Aristokraft, Schrock, Diamond and Omega cabinets, Therma-Tru door systems, Master Lock padlocks and Waterloo tool storage sold by units of Fortune Brands Home & Hardware, Inc. Jim Beam Brands Worldwide, Inc. is the company's spirits and wine business. Major spirits and wine brands include Jim Beam and Knob Creek bourbons, Sauza tequila, Canadian Club whisky, Courvoisier cognac, DeKuyper cordials, Starbucks(TM) Coffee Liqueur, Laphroaig single malt Scotch, Vox vodka and Clos du Bois and Geyser Peak wines. Acushnet Company's golf brands include Titleist, Cobra and FootJoy. Office brands include Swingline, Wilson Jones, Kensington and Day-Timer sold by units of ACCO World Corporation. Fortune Brands,
headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FO and is included in the S&P 500 Index and the MSCI World Index.

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