French IT consulting group Capgemini (CAPP.PA) on Wednesday forecast slower revenue growth for 2024, anticipating a soft environment in the first half of the year.

The Paris-based firm also said it expects a trough in the first quarter and a “gradual” recovery from the second quarter.

“We hope for slightly faster rebounds in the second half of the year in sectors such as financial services,” CEO Aiman Ezzat told journalists in a media call.

The company expects its full year revenue to remain flat or at best grow 3 per cent in constant currency terms. It also projected the operating profit margin to be in the range of 13.3 per cent to 13.6 per cent this year. Margin stood at 13.3 per cent last year.

Both revenue and margin outlook is below consensus, JPMorgan analysts wrote in a note, adding that margin guidance leaves about 55 basis points to achieve the target of around 14 per cent in 2025.

Capgemini’s full-year revenue rose 4.4 per cent to 22.52 billion euros ($24.13 billion), settling near the lower end of its projected 4 per cent-7 per cent growth, as economic challenges and rising geopolitical tensions led to a gradual market slowdown last year.

In the fourth quarter, the group’s revenue was 5.62 billion euros, down 0.2 per cent at constant exchange rates.

The group’s headcount stood at 340,400 workers at end-December, a 5 per cent fall from a year earlier.

The board proposed a full-year 2023 dividend of 3.40 euros per share, up from 3.25 euros per share for 2022.

($1 = 0.9334 euros)