(Reuters) -French IT consulting group Capgemini reported lower first-quarter revenue on Tuesday, compared with the same period last year, citing an expected slowdown in the market.

The company's revenue fell 3.5% to 5.53 billion euros ($5.92 billion) in the first three months of 2024, against 5.73 billion euros in the year-ago period.

"As anticipated, the market continued to slow down in Q1, and we confirm the growth trough is now behind us," CEO Aiman Ezzat said in a statement.

"We expect the market to gradually pick up toward an attractive exit growth rate in Q4, setting up for a more tangible acceleration in 2025," he added.

Order bookings also fell by 3.5% to 5.66 billion euros in the quarter.

The group's headcount stood at 337,200 workers at the end of March, which is a decrease of 6% compared to same time last year.

Revenue in North America, Capgemini's second biggest market with 28% of group revenues, was down 7.1%, after a decline of 6.6% during the fourth quarter of 2023.

The company reiterated its outlook for 2024.

($1 = 0.9341 euros)