Capgemini Q3 revenue falls after decline in North America

(Reuters) - French IT consulting group Capgemini on Tuesday posted a 1.3% fall in third-quarter revenue at current exchange rates, including 4% fall in North America, its second-biggest market.

"It is due both to an environment in which cost cuts are more coveted in the technological market in the United States, and I would also say because of a less favourable mix compared to Europe," CEO Aiman Ezzat said on a media call.

Activities involving data and artificial intelligence (AI) were the group's "fastest" growing over the quarter, with more than 100 projects in the pipeline, the company said, noting for example the deployment of generative AI technology for French train maker Alstom.

Generative AI capable of producing text, images and various types of content has become popular since the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot in November 2022.

The firm said its investment of 2 billion euros in AI was progressing "as planned" with the aim of doubling the workforce involved to 60,000 people over the three years.

Its headcount stood at 342,700 workers at the end of September, down 4% from last year.

The Paris-based group's revenue was 5.48 billion euros ($5.87 billion) in the third quarter, down from 5.55 billion a year earlier, while its bookings rose 1% to 5.28 billion euros.

Capgemini maintained its full-year objectives.

($1 = 0.9341 euros)

(Reporting by Lina Golovnya and Stéphanie Hamel in Gdansk; editing by Kim Coghill and Jason Neely)