Franklin Misses SEC Deadline, ASE Halts Stock Trades By CARLOS MARTINEZ Staff Reporter The American Stock Exchange stopped the trading of Franklin Telecommunications Corp. stock after the company failed to submit its annual report on Oct. 30. Franklin, a Westlake Village company that makes Internet-based telephone communications equipment, is conducting an audit of its operations and still has not filed the report with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The delay resulted in the suspension of trading on Nov. 15. The problem, according to Franklin officials, is that nobody seems available to complete the report. The company’s CFO, Russell Thomas, left the firm in March and has not been replaced, leaving longtime accounting manager Diane Oliver to manage the company’s finances, said Franklin spokeswoman Helen West. Oliver retired in May, just as Franklin’s annual audit was underway. Further complicating matters, Oliver’s replacement, who was not identified, became ill in October and has not returned to work. “It was a double whammy for us, but we’re trying to deal with it,” West said. “Several people have been assigned portions of her responsibilities, but (Oliver’s) depth of understanding simply cannot be replaced overnight,” Franklin CEO and Chairman Franklin Peters said. The company has issued a preliminary report, but Peters said he was unsure just when exactly the official report would be filed. A spokesman for the American Stock Exchange said trading will not resume until the company submits its annual report and the exchange reviews it. The company’s stock last traded at 5 cents a share. The last time it reached the $1 mark was Sept. 28, 2000. “This isn’t the kind of thing that can just be picked up by someone,” said West, referring to the notes and assorted documents left behind by Oliver. Franklin has been seeking a merger partner for much of the year, but so far no deals have been announced. That, West said, has not helped with delays in submitting the annual report. “We’re still talking and that’s all we can say,” West said of a potential suitor. According to Franklin’s preliminary report, the company had a net loss of $7.5 million, or 28 cents a share, on sales of $1.3 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, compared to a loss of $11.6 million, or 39 cents per share, on $3.2 million in sales for the same period a year earlier. Last year it lost its contract with long distance service and Internet provider USA Talks Inc., which had been worth $8.1 million in net revenue for Franklin in 1999. USA Talks was hit hard by the tech industry downturn and an SEC investigation into its business practices. Franklin has cut its staff from more than 100 in 1999 to 44 now. Franklin makes so-called Voice Over Internet Protocol telephony equipment, which allows users to transmit high-speed data, voice, fax and e-mail over the Internet. Peters said sales have picked up in the past two months, in particular with its Tempest Voice Over Internet Protocol.