John Hancock Income Securities Trust Reports Fourth Quarter Earnings.

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 2004

John Hancock Income Securities Trust (NYSE: JHS), a closed-end fund managed by John Hancock Advisers, LLC, reported today that net investment income was $2,736,383 for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2003. For the comparable period in 2002, net investment income was $2,109,111.

As of December 31, 2003, the net asset value per share was $16.53 with total net assets of $271,730,202(a) and 11,056,746 shares outstanding. Comparable figures for December 31, 2002 reflect a net asset value per share of $16.31, total net assets of $178,588,232 and 10,952,182 shares outstanding.

John Hancock Advisers, LLC, a premier investment management company, managed $29.3 billion in open-end funds, closed-end funds, private accounts and retirement plans for individual and institutional investors as of December 31, 2003.

John Hancock Advisers, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: JHF). John Hancock and its affiliated companies provide a broad array of insurance and investment products and services to retail and institutional customers. As of December 31, 2003, John Hancock Financial Services and its subsidiaries had total assets under management of $142.5 billion.

(a) Total net assets include value of preferred shares