ASHLAND INC

a-2 / ashland.com

(a)

Depreciation and amortization excludes accelerated depreciation of $2 million and $55 million for Personal Care and Specialty Additives for fiscal 2024, respectively, which is included as a key item within this table as a component of Adjusted EBITDA. Depreciation and amortization includes $3 million for Life Sciences associated with the Nutraceuticals business held for sale assets for fiscal 2024, which is included as a key item within this table as a component of adjusted EBITDA.

(b)

Includes $12 million, $12 million and $7 million during 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, of net periodic pension and other postretirement expense recognized ratably through the fiscal year. These expenses are comprised of service cost, interest cost, expected return on plan assets, and amortization of prior service credit and are disclosed in further detail in Note L of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

diluted EPS and adjusted diluted EPS

The following table reflects the U.S. GAAP calculation for the income (loss) from continuing operations adjusted for the cumulative diluted EPS effect for key items after tax that have been identified in the Adjusted EBITDA table in the previous section. Key items are defined as the financial effects from significant transactions that may have caused short-term fluctuations in net income and/or operating income which Ashland believes do not accurately reflect Ashland’s underlying business performance and trends. The Adjusted Diluted EPS for the income (loss) from continuing operations and Adjusted Diluted EPS from continuing operations excluding intangibles amortization expense in the following table have been prepared to illustrate these ongoing effects on Ashland’s operations. Management believes investors and analysts use this financial measure in assessing Ashland’s business performance and that presenting this non-GAAP measure on a consolidated basis assists investors in better understanding Ashland’s ongoing business performance and enhancing their ability to compare period-to-period financial results.

(a)

Represents the diluted EPS impact from the tax effect of the key items that are previously identified above.

(b)

Represents the diluted EPS impact from tax specific financial transactions, tax law changes or other matters that fall within the definition of tax specific key items. For additional explanation of these tax specific key items, see the income tax expense (benefit) discussion within the following caption review section.

(c)

Amortization expense adjustment (net of tax) tax rates were 20.0% for the years ended2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.