Fortune Brands Increases Dividend 8% to Annual Rate of $1.68 Per Share

DEERFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fortune Brands, Inc., (NYSE:FO), the consumer company behind leading brands including Jim Beam, Moen and Titleist, announced that its board of directors today approved an 8% increase in the dividend on the company’s common stock. The dividend will increase 12 cents per share to an annual rate of $1.68 (payable $0.42 per quarter) from $1.56 per share ($0.39 per quarter). The next quarterly dividend is payable on September 4, 2007 to shareholders of record at the close of business August 15, 2007.

“We’re pleased that we’ve increased the dividend in each of the 11 years since we began trading as Fortune Brands, more than doubling our payout over that period.”

“We create value for shareholders of Fortune Brands in many ways, including building our consumer brands, positioning our businesses for stronger growth, improving productivity and using our financial strength to pay dividends that return immediate value to shareholders,” said Norm Wesley, chairman and chief executive officer of Fortune Brands. “We’re pleased that we’ve increased the dividend in each of the 11 years since we began trading as Fortune Brands, more than doubling our payout over that period.” The dividend increase announced today represents the sixth consecutive increase of 8% or more.

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, 2007 to shareholders of record at the close of business August 15, 2007.

About Fortune Brands

Fortune Brands, Inc. is a leading consumer brands company with annual sales exceeding $8 billion. Its operating companies have premier brands and leading market positions in spirits and wine, home and hardware products, and golf equipment. Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. is the company’s spirits and wine business. Major spirits and wine brands include Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark bourbons, Sauza tequila, Canadian Club whisky, Courvoisier cognac, DeKuyper cordials, Starbucks™ liqueurs, Laphroaig single malt Scotch and Clos du Bois and Geyser Peak wines. Home and hardware brands include Moen faucets, Aristokraft, Omega, Diamond and Kitchen Craft cabinetry, Therma-Tru door systems, Simonton windows, Master Lock padlocks and Waterloo tool storage sold by units of Fortune Brands Home & Hardware LLC. Acushnet Company’s golf brands include Titleist, Cobra and FootJoy. Fortune Brands, headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FO and is included in the S&P 500 Index, the MSCI World Index and the Ocean Tomo 300™ Patent Index.

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Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements relating to future results, which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the company does not assume any obligation to update, amend or clarify them to reflect events, new information or circumstances occurring after the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to: competitive market pressures (including pricing pressures); consolidation of trade customers; successful development of new products and processes; ability to secure and maintain rights to intellectual property; risks pertaining to strategic acquisitions and joint ventures, including the potential financial effects and performance of such acquisitions or joint ventures, and integration of acquisitions and the related confirmation or remediation of internal controls over financial reporting; changes related to the potential privatization of V&S Group; ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; general economic conditions, including the U.S. housing market; weather; risks associated with doing business outside the United States, including currency exchange rate risks; interest rate fluctuations; commodity and energy price volatility; costs of certain employee and retiree benefits and returns on pension assets; dependence on performance of distributors and other marketing arrangements; the impact of excise tax increases on distilled spirits and wines; changes in golf equipment regulatory standards and other regulatory developments; potential liabilities, costs and uncertainties of litigation; impairment in the carrying value of goodwill or other acquired intangibles; historical consolidated financial statements that may not be indicative of future conditions and results due to the recent portfolio realignment; any possible downgrades of the company’s credit ratings; as well as other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings.