Seagate, the troubled disk drive manufacturer that pulled out of Clonmel earlier this year with the loss of 1,400 jobs, reported net losses of close to $130 million (£94 million) for the three months ending on April 3rd.
The company said that while the Tipperary plant was now closed, the jobs of its 1,000 workers in Derry were not under threat and it was actually adding to its 750-strong payroll in Limavady, Co Derry. Proposed expansions in Cork and Derry, however, remained suspended, Seagate said.
The California-based company reported revenue of $1.68 billion and a net loss of $128.5 million, blaming the decline on restructuring charges.
In a statement, the company said the restructuring charges reflected "the steps the company is taking to align worldwide operations with current conditions and to improve the productivity of its operations and efficiency of its development efforts".
In October of last year, Seagate said it was suspending its plan to employ up to 1,000 people in a new, £148 million factory in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork. Yesterday, the company confirmed those plans were still in abeyance.
"At the present time, business conditions continue to prohibit Seagate from moving ahead with the Ringaskiddy project," the firm's corporate communications manager Mr Ian O'Leary, said yesterday.
"Seagate will continue to keep its plans for Ringaskiddy under review. When industry conditions require that Seagate add additional magnetic recording media capacity, Ringaskiddy remains our preferred location," he added.
Mr O'Leary said the Derry factory was not under threat. The planned expansion of the Derry facility remained suspended, he added.
Hit by a worldwide slump in demand for computer hard drives, Seagate has ordered a massive restructuring of its operations. This has meant a reduction of its global workforce by 10 per cent as well as stringent cost-cutting measures.
The firm is also trying to reduce the time it takes to get its products into the market, and has stepped up its investment and focus in research and development.
For the nine months to the start of April, Seagate said, revenue was $5.2 billion and net losses were $552 million. This compares with revenue of $7 billion, and net profits of $599 million for the period to the beginning of April 1997.
