Derry-based electronics manufacturer Seagate Technology has seen its pre-tax profits fall by 35% over the past year.

The company, which employs more than 1,400 people in the city, has seen its sales in Ireland fall by 15% from £160 million to £135 million, primarily due to reduced customer demand.

Seagate provides data storage solutions for companies across the world, including read-write heads for hard disk drives.

In the strategic report with the company accounts, the directors said the fall in turnover was “primarily due to customer demand, resulting in lower internal build schedules and impacting operating profit. One-off redundancy expenditure further impacted operating margins, which decreased by 38%.”

Staff numbers increased by 1% from 1,395 to 1,404 during 2016, but the company said last year that it intended to cut its workforce by 14% by the end of 2017. 70 people at the Derry plant were made redundant earlier this year.

Seagate, which is registered in the Cayman Islands, said that during 2016 the company “continued to invest in its manufacturing capability of thin-film recording head wafers, employing the very latest product and process technologies.

“The directors believes there are no material uncertainties that cast significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, and the financial statements have been prepared on this basis.”