Hong Kong

ANALYSTS are racing to slash their forecasts for Macau casino revenue this year after a lacklustre Lunar New Year showed the pace of the downturn is accelerating.

Gross gambling revenue is now expected to fall 21 per cent this year, according to the median estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, more than double the projected decline two months ago. That would cut total annual casino receipts for the Chinese gaming enclave to about 277.7 billion patacas (S$47.6 billion), the smallest take since 2011.