EX-99 5 ex99-4.txt EXHIBIT 99.4 Exhibit 99.4 (Text of graph posted to Ashland Inc.'s website concerning Ashland Specialty Chemical's average sales per shipping day) Average Net Sales per Shipping Day ($, Millions) 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ January 4.383 3.835 3.790 4.094 4.551 6.781 February 4.422 4.206 4.554 4.885 4.757 7.125 March 4.454 4.148 4.411 4.846 5.182 7.077 April 4.915 4.399 4.557 5.073 5.830 7.611 May 4.393 4.121 4.566 4.967 5.801 7.743 June 4.468 4.898 4.945 5.170 5.800 7.349 July 4.414 4.498 4.349 4.729 5.816 7.091 August 4.228 4.152 4.588 4.411 5.711 6.812 September 4.592 4.800 4.888 5.660 5.778 7.008 October 4.272 4.323 4.595 5.040 6.371 7.464 November 4.500 4.570 5.056 5.714 6.798 December 4.435 4.339 4.531 4.940 6.181 Durable Manufacturing Index (%) 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ January 100.0 99.7 93.8 97.1 102.2 110.5 February 100.4 99.0 94.2 96.3 103.9 111.6 March 101.8 99.4 94.6 95.5 104.0 111.1 April 103.0 98.6 95.3 94.5 104.8 110.8 May 104.1 97.6 95.8 95.0 105.6 111.6 June 104.1 96.6 96.8 96.2 105.5 112.5 July 103.9 96.4 96.6 97.2 106.9 112.7 August 103.1 95.2 97.3 97.1 107.6 114.2 September 103.8 94.2 97.2 99.2 107.2 114.1 October 103.3 92.9 96.7 99.6 108.9 116.7 November 102.3 92.9 97.3 101.3 109.1 December 101.2 93.2 96.3 101.6 110.0