STOCKHOLM, July 20 Reuters Nordic telecom operator Telia reported on Wednesday quarterly core earnings that exceeded market expectations, helped by growth in its mobile business and a tight lid on costs.

The company, which offers mobile connections, broadband and television services in Scandinavian countries and the Baltics, also repeated its 2022 forecast despite inflation boosting costs and it as spends heavily to roll out 5G.

We are proactively taking pricing where we can because we have to ensure in this inflationary environment that we are pricing our services accordingly so that we can continue to invest going forward, CEO Allison Kirkby said in an interview.

Secondquarter adjusted EBITDA earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 0.3 to 7.68 billion Swedish crowns 752.28 million from a year earlier, beating the mean forecast of 7.54 billion crowns, according to Refinitiv estimates.

We saw mobile revenue grow in all of our markets, including Finland, Kirkby said, adding that it was driven by rolling out 5G in about 50 of its markets, higher pricing and a return of roaming.

Net sales rose 1.9 to 22.29 billion crowns, beating expectations of 22.19 billion.

Telia launched a strategy in January last year to restructure its business, turnaround its operations in Finland and reduce headcount to save billions of crowns in costs.

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