An anonymous director of John Hancock reports

JOHN HANCOCK PREMIUM DIVIDEND FUND REQUIRED NOTICE TO SHAREHOLDERS - SOURCES OF DISTRIBUTION UNDER SECTION 19 (A)

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund, a closed-end fund managed by John Hancock Advisers LLC and subadvised by John Hancock Asset Management (U.S.) LLC, a division of Manulife Financial Corp.'s Manulife Asset Management, has declared a monthly distribution of 9.00 cents per share to be paid to all shareholders of record as of Dec. 11, 2014, pursuant to the fund's managed distribution plan. This press release is issued as required by an exemptive order granted to the fund by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Notification of sources of distribution

This notice provides shareholders of the John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund with important information concerning the distribution declared on Dec. 1, 2014, and payable on Dec. 18, 2014. No action is required on your part.

                 DECEMBER DISTRIBUTION

Distribution period                   December, 2014

Distribution amount per common share  $0.0900      

The attached sources of December distribution table sets forth the estimated sources of the current distribution, payable Dec. 18, 2014, and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short-term capital gains; net realized long-term capital gains; and return of capital or other capital source. All amounts are expressed on a per-common-share basis and as a percentage of the distribution amount.

                                 SOURCES OF DECEMBER DISTRIBUTION

Source                              Current    % breakdown of the     Total cumulative % breakdown of the total
                            distribution ($) current distribution        distributions cumulative distributions
                                                                   for the fiscal year   for the fiscal year to
                                                                            to date ($)                    date

Net investment income               $0.0636                    71%             $0.1800                      100%
Net realized short-term
capital gains                        0.0000                     0%              0.0000                        0%
Net realized long-term
capital gains                        0.0000                     0%              0.0000                        0%
Return of capital or other
capital source                       0.0264                    29%              0.0000                        0%
Total per common share               0.0900                   100%              0.1800                      100%

Average annual total return (in relation to net asset value) for the five years ended Nov. 30, 2014, was 17.73 per cent.

Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of Nov. 30, 2014, was 6.99 per cent.

Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through Nov. 30, 2014, was 0.84 per cent.

Cumulative fiscal year-to-date distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of Nov. 30, 2014, was 1.16 per cent.

The reader should not draw any conclusions about the fund's investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the fund's managed distribution plan.

The fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and net realized capital gains; therefore, a portion of the distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur, for example, when some or all of the money that the investor invested in the fund is paid back to the investor. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the fund's investment performance and should not be confused with yield or income.

The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax-reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax-reporting purposes will depend upon the fund's investment experience during the rest of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The fund will send the investor a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell the investor how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes.

The fund has declared the December, 2014, distribution pursuant to the fund's managed distribution plan. Under the plan, the fund makes fixed monthly distributions in the amount of 9.00 cents per share, which will continue to be paid monthly until further notice. If you have questions or need additional information, please contact a financial professional or call the John Hancock Investments closed-end fund information line at 1-800-843-0090, Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m., Eastern Time.

About John Hancock Investments

John Hancock Investments provides asset management services to individuals and institutions through a unique manager-of-managers approach. A wealth management business of John Hancock Financial, it managed $123-billion in assets as of Sept. 30, 2014, across mutual funds, college savings plans and retirement plans.

About John Hancock Financial

John Hancock Financial is a division of Manulife Financial.