PEOPLES BANCORP INC. - P.O. BOX 738 - MARIETTA, OHIO - 45750
                                                          www.peoplesbancorp.com


                                  NEWS RELEASE


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE          Contact: Mark F. Bradley
---------------------                   President and Chief Executive Officer
February 9, 2006                        (740) 373-3155


                              PEOPLES BANCORP INC.
                         DECLARES FIRST QUARTER DIVIDEND
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         MARIETTA, Ohio - The Board of Directors of Peoples Bancorp Inc.
(NASDAQ: PEBO) today declared a cash dividend of $0.20 per share payable on
April 3, 2006, to shareholders of record at March 15, 2006.
          The first quarter dividend reflects an increase of 5.3% over the $0.19
per share paid in the first quarter of 2005 and equal to the fourth quarter of
2005.
         The first quarter dividend represents a payout of approximately $2.1
million based on 10.6 million shares outstanding at February 9, 2006.
         "The Board's decision to continue the level of the quarterly cash
dividend reflects our commitment to enhance shareholder return and is consistent
with the greater emphasis on dividends," said Mark F. Bradley, President and
CEO.
         The annualized 2006 dividend of $0.80 equates to a yield of 2.8% based
on Peoples Bancorp's closing stock price of $28.54 on February 8, 2006.
         Peoples recently reported net income of $5.7 million or $0.53 per
diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2005. Net income for the year ended
December 31, 2005 was $20.5 million or $1.94 per diluted share.
         Peoples Bancorp Inc., a diversified financial products and services
company with $1.9 billion in assets, makes available a complete line of banking,
investment, insurance, and trust solutions through 49 locations and 34 ATMs in
Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. Peoples' financial service units include
Peoples Bank, Peoples Financial Advisors (a division of Peoples Bank) and
Peoples Insurance Agency, Inc. Peoples' common shares are traded on the NASDAQ
national market under the symbol "PEBO", and Peoples is a member of the Russell
3000 index of US publicly traded companies. Learn more about Peoples at
www.peoplesbancorp.com.


                                 END OF RELEASE