The future of Coffee Republic, the coffee shop chain, was in doubt this evening after it asked for trading in its shares to be suspended ahead of the appointment of administrators to a number of subsidiaries, including its UK offshoot.

The development surprised some observers as in December the company had announced it had cleared all its debts and expected to become cash flow positive and earnings positive by the end of the current financial year for the first time in its history.

At the time, it said that trading in its core UK business had stabilised, although it continued to "proceed warily" on expansion.

The company was founded by brother and sister Bobby and Sahar Hashemi in 1995 but for years struggled to reach profitability amid ambitious expansion. It also failed to keep pace with competitors including Starbucks and Caffe Nero, both of which are now considerably bigger.

Mr Hashemi, who had sought to reinvent the brand as a New York-style deli, was ousted in October 2006 by chairman Peter Breach and chief executive Steven Bartlett, the property developers who built up a significant stake in Coffee Republic before seizing control.

Today, the company has about 200 Coffee Republic outlets worldwide, including 14 overseas, although 57 are franchises and 110 are independent outlets that serve its branded coffee.

Analysts said that weakness of the Coffee Republic brand had almost certainly been exposed by the recessionary trading environment.

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