The “final countdown” has begun for Borders, says Jim Milliot in a Publishers Weekly report, referring to the fact that it’s time for the company “to repay or renegotiate the $42.5 million loan due April 1 to its largest shareholder, William Ackerman.”

The company has given no indication of what it’s going to do. Ackerman, on the other, said in a January interview with CNBC that “he thought it was unlikely that Borders would file for bankruptcy and that a merger was possible,” reports Milliot.

Meanwhile, speculation is also running high about when Borders will release its year-end results. Last year, it released them on March 31, notes Milliot — after announcing an extension on the loan from Ackerman (the loan was originally due in January 2009). This year, says Milliot,

Despite the fact that Borders has yet to release final results for the last year, there is no doubt they will be bad. The retailer had been hoping to show at least some improvement over the holidays, but results for the 11-week holiday season fell about 14%, far worse than either Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million. Shortly after the release of those results, CEO Ron Marshall left the company and was replaced Michael Edwards who continues to run the company.