Last week the group asked for trading in its shares to be halted until the start of trading on the Australian Securities Exchange today (30 March).

It has now requested that its shares be suspended until the start of trading on Wednesday 8 April, or until it makes a further announcement regarding a resolution to its finance issues.

“The voluntary suspension is necessary as a subsidiary of the Company is still in discussions with one of its European financiers in relation to a likely breach of a banking covenant and accordingly, the Company is not yet in a position to make an announcement on this matter,” said Paperlinx company secretary Michelle Wong in a statement.

Some UK employees of the business feared they would not receive their March wages due to the financial crunch. However, PrintWeek has learned that staff have actually been paid early, leading to speculation that a further announcement could be imminent.

“Let’s see how this week goes. It’s one day at a time for most of us,” said an insider at the company.

Asia Pulp & Paper, and European paper group Lecta have been mooted as potential purchasers for all or part of Paperlinx’s A$2bn (£1.04bn) turnover European operation.

Paperlinx is a major customer of Lecta, which owns Garda Cartiere, Condat and Torraspapel and makes the Regency range of coated papers sold by Paperlinx.

However, Lecta has previously quashed speculation that it could take over some of the merchant’s operations.

The hiatus at the merchanting giant has caused anxiety at some customers.

“We’re definitely seeing some extra activity because of it,” said a source at another merchant. “Some printers are extremely nervous about whether they’re going to get deliveries.”