Hong Kong Internet portal Myinfoage.com has suspended operations and will lay off some of its eight employees as it restructures. Citing mounting losses and pressure from investors, the technology-oriented lifestyle and business site that at one time boasted 600,000 hits a month announced that it is closed until further notice. Chief executive Sahr Johhny said the company had spent 40 per cent of its start-up funding since its launch a year ago, and it needed an overhaul before it ran out of cash. 'It has become pretty obvious to us that if we want to be profitable, we have to change what we do,' he said. 'In the last three or four months investors have started using the 'p' word [for profit] a lot more often than they used to.' Mr Johnny said the restructure would move the site's focus away from creating original content and towards providing consulting and software services to Internet companies. 'There is a very strong possibility that some of our junior editorial staff will be laid-off,' Mr Johnny said. 'Seven of the eight people we have are journalists, so obviously there are going to have to be some changes if we are not producing content.' Mr Johnny said advertising revenue and earnings from sales of content were far lower than expected. The original business plan predicted Myinfoage would make money soon after its launch last August, but Mr Johnny said the site had lost, 'in the low six figures of Hong Kong dollars' every month. Other Internet content companies - including Renren.com, Tom.com and Next Media - have laid off employees recently as they tried to deal with losses. Mr Johnny said he expected other content-oriented sites lay off staff as they run out of money. Myinfoage.com will remain closed from a week to a month, depending on how long it takes to redesign the site. Mr Johnny said Myinfoage was in talks with other sites over mergers, but he would not say which ones. The decision to close the Myinfoage last Tuesday came after talks to join forces with another portal fell through. 'It is all about profitability,' Mr Johnny said. 'If you cannot do it on your own, you have to do a merger or die. Rumours of trouble at the portal arose after it failed to update content for prolonged periods and then began looking for a partner or new owner. Chinadotcom, the majority shareholder in Myinfoage, did not respond to requests for comment.