Cattles the embattled sub-prime lender has asked for it shares to be suspended after admitting its annual report would not be ready on time.

The company has been in embroiled in an accounting scandal which has seen group FD James Corr and divisional FD Peter Miller suspended while internal auditor Deloitte conducted a probe.

Cattles is still in last-ditch talks with its lenders to secure refinancing, which has held up external auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers' efforts to complete its audit, leading to the suspension of its shares.

Cattles said: 'The company has today requested an immediate suspension of trading in its securities pending publication of its audited report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2008.'

The company said the report would not be published before the statutory deadline of 30 April this year, as talks with its lenders drag on.

Cattles added: 'Those discussions are continuing. The company is making every effort to conclude a satisfactory agreement with all the parties involved to secure the refinancing it requires as soon as possible.

'However, these are complex negotiations which are likely to continue for some time and the company's external auditors are not expected to be able to complete their audit of the 2008 financial statements until those negotiations have been concluded.'