Asia Online, owner of Hong Kong's oldest independent Internet service provider, has gone through yet another round of job cuts, dropping 33 people - or 19 per cent of its staff in Hong Kong. Its worldwide staff has been reduced to fewer than 570 people and it is moving the remaining Hong Kong staff at its headquarters from International Finance Centre, to 625 King's Road, its local base of operations. Last year the company went through two rounds of staff cuts after the cancellation of a Nasdaq listing to raise US$100 million and the exit of former chief executive and president Kevin Randolph. More than 350 people have left since late last year. In mid-December a company official said no more lay-offs were planned after Asia Online closed its operations in the United States and Canada. Yesterday, chief executive Ed Roberto said the company was continuing to evaluate its operations and was seeking a more focused range of services - consistent with the plan it outlined late last year. 'We've got a very challenging business environment and one we're going to stay on top of,' he said. 'I still have work in progress, not to mention resignations.' The company's largest shareholder is United States-based Softbank Technology Venture, part of Japan's big Internet investor Softbank. Last month the company was looking for a fourth injection of funds.