EXHIBIT 99.1


                                       The Peoples Holding Company (AMEX:PHC)
                                       P.O. Box 709
                                       Tupelo, MS 38801-0709
                                       Phone: (662) 680-1001
                                       Fax: (662) 680-1234
                                       www.thepeoplesbankandtrust.com


Press Release
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For additional information, contact:

        Jim Gray
        Executive Vice President, Investor Relations and Planning Director
        (662) 680-1217

        Stuart Johnson
        Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
        (662) 680-1472

Date:  November 20, 2002


              PEOPLES HOLDING COMPANY INCREASES QUARTERLY DIVIDEND

At its monthly meeting on Tuesday,  November 19, 2002, the board of directors of
The Peoples  Holding  Company (AMEX:  PHC) declared an increase in the quarterly
cash  dividend from  twenty-six  cents ($.26) to  twenty-seven  cents ($.27) per
share.  The  dividend  is payable  January 2, 2003,  to  shareholders  of record
December 16, 2002. This action by the Company's board of directors increases the
annual cash  dividend to one dollar and eight cents  ($1.08) per share and marks
the  sixteenth  consecutive  year in  which  the  quarterly  dividend  has  been
increased.

In other action,  the board  approved  expensing the fair value of stock options
granted to employees, including options granted during the current year. This is
in  keeping  with  the  Financial  Accounting  Standards  Board  Statement  123,
"Accounting For Stock-based Compensation." Expensing the Company's stock options
will have a dilutive effect of approximately $.01 per share for 2002.  According
to President and CEO, E. Robinson  McGraw,  this  shareholder-oriented  step was
taken in response to the current national business climate,  and is in line with
the  Company's  historically  conservative  approach to business  and  financial
management.

The  Peoples  Holding  Company is the  parent of  Mississippi's  fourth  largest
commercial bank headquartered in the state. Through its wholly owned subsidiary,
The  Peoples  Bank & Trust  Company,  the  Company is also parent of The Peoples
Insurance Agency, Inc., which is located in Corinth,  Louisville and Tupelo. The
Peoples  Bank & Trust  Company  has assets of  approximately  $1.3  billion  and
operates 40  community  bank offices in 27 north and north  central  Mississippi
cities.