Coffee Republic on the brink

Coffee Republic is understood to be close to falling into administration after shares in the coffee chain were temporarily suspended this morning (July 6).

The 184-strong UK chain has requested the temporary suspension of trading in its shares on the Alternative Investment Market “pending clarification of the company’s financial position”.

According to reports, Coffee Republic has lodged documents in court in anticipation of appointing administrators.

The chain has been struggling of late as consumer confidence wanes and people increasingly look upon coffee as a discretionary purchase.

It registered a loss of £527,000 for the six months to September 28 on a same store sales drop of 0.2%.

Other coffee chains have also been struggling this year, rival Starbucks recently reported a 77% fall in quarterly profits hit by falling sales and the cost of closing stores.

Coffee Republic was founded by brother and sister team Bobby and Sahar Hashemi in 1995.

The company has nearly 200 outlets globally, the majority of which are in the UK.