Franklin's Technology Budget Soars From Agency Consolidation Project

SAN MATEO, California--Franklin Resources, one of the leading publicly traded mutual fund companies, saw its technology costs jump up to $45.9 million in the second quarter of its 1998 fiscal year, which ended March 31. In the same period a year earlier, the company spent $29.4 million.

To be sure, the rise in technology costs was not completely unexpected. Sell-side analysts who track the company's stock say management has alerted Wall Street to its technology spending. The chief culprits