Ecolab Declares Regular Quarterly Cash Dividend; Announces Voting Resu

    Business Editors

    ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2005--Ecolab Inc. announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a regular cash dividend of $0.0875 per share payable July 15, 2005 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 21, 2005. Ecolab has paid cash dividends for 68 consecutive years.

    Ecolab also announced that shareholders at today's annual meeting took the following actions:

(i) re-elected five directors to the board for a term ending in 2008, with each director receiving at least 94% of the votes cast: Douglas M. Baker, Stefan Hamelmann, James J. Howard, Jerry W. Levin and Robert L. Lumpkins;

(ii) approved the Ecolab Inc. 2005 Stock Incentive Plan, with more than 83% of the votes cast in favor of the plan;

(iii) rejected a stockholder proposal to adopt a director election majority vote standard, with more than 74% of the votes cast against the proposal; and

(iv) ratified the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the current year, with more than 97% of the votes in favor of the ratification.

    With 2004 sales of $4.2 billion, Ecolab is the leading global developer and marketer of premium cleaning, sanitizing, pest elimination, maintenance and repair products for the hospitality, foodservice, institutional and industrial markets.
    Ecolab shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ECL. Ecolab news releases and other investor information are available on the Internet at www.ecolab.com.

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CONTACT: Ecolab Inc., St. Paul Michael J. Monahan, 651-293-2809

KEYWORD: MINNESOTA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: CHEMICALS/PLASTICS ADVERTISING/MARKETING TRAVEL FOODS/BEVERAGES RETAIL DIVIDEND SOURCE: Ecolab Inc.

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