Capgemini Q1 sales fall 0.3 pct, keeps H1 goals

* Q1 sales 2.21 bln eur, down 0.3 pct like-for-like

* Keeps H1 2009 goals for sales, operating margin

* Q1 bookings 2.22 bln euros

(Adds details from statement)

PARIS, April 30 (Reuters) - Capgemini (CAPP.PA), Europe's largest computer consultancy, kept its sales and margin goals for the first half as it posted a 0.3 percent drop in like-for-like first-quarter sales that beat expectations.

The French company, which competes for IT budgets with U.S. giant Accenture (ACN.N) and France's Atos Origin (ATOS.PA), said it had confidence in its guidance that first-half like-for-like revenue would decline by around 2 percent, with an operating margin remaining above 6.5 percent.

The first-half operating margin was 7.6 percent last year.

First-quarter sales were 2.21 billion euros ($2.93 billion), a reported rise of 0.9 percent but a 0.3 percent drop on a like-for-like basis.

Consulting services took the biggest hit from the global economic downturn with a 9.8 percent sales drop.

Outsourcing services rose 1.1 percent, while technology services gained 0.4 percent. Revenue from the Sogeti professional services unit declined 0.7 percent.

Market expectations were for total first-quarter sales of 2.18 billion euros, according to several analysts.

Order bookings came in at 2.22 billion euros against 2.17 billion in the same quarter of 2008.

Capgemini shares have lost 1.45 percent so far this year, underperforming an 11 percent rise in the European technology sector SX8P. They closed at 27.10 euros on Wednesday, giving it a market capitalisation of 3.95 billion euros.

($1=.7547 Euro)

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by James Regan)

((dominique.vidalon.reuters.com; +33 1 49495432; Reuters Messaging:dominique.vidalon.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: CAPGEMINI/

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