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STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson reported on Friday a rise in fourth-quarter revenue and adjusted operating profit as its mainstay North American market returned to growth.
Net sales rose 1% to 72.9 billion crowns ($6.66 billion), beating estimates of 72.5 billion. In North America, sales were up 54%.
"We see further signs that the overall RAN (Radio Access Network) market is now stabilizing, with strong growth in North America supporting a return to Networks sales growth in Q4," CEO Borje Ekholm said in a statement.
Sales in Asia decreased by double digits, mainly in India, where demand fell following a rapid growth in 2023.
Operating profit excluding restructuring costs and impairments stood at 9.8 billion crowns compared with a year-earlier 7.4 billion. The mean EBIT forecast in an LSEG poll of analysts was 10.3 billion.
Ericsson proposed a dividend of 2.85 crowns per share for 2024, up from 2.70 crowns for 2023.
($1 = 10.9536 Swedish crowns)
(This story has been corrected to add dropped word 'from' in paragraph 10)
(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm, editing by Anna Ringstrom and Louise Rasmussen)