Jan 23 (Reuters) - Swedish telecoms gear maker Ericsson said it planned to return 15 billion Swedish crowns ($1.7 billion) to shareholders through share repurchases as it beat quarterly operating earnings expectations on Friday. The company reported adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, excluding restructuring charges, of 12.26 billion crowns for the final quarter of 2025. That compares to an average forecast of 10.09 billion crowns in an Infront poll of analysts. Ericsson, one of the two Western suppliers of network equipment alongside Nokia, moved quickly to adjust to U.S. import tariffs last year and has kept up a deep restructuring programme to counter weaker 5G investments. The Swedish group said earlier this month it would cut 1,600 jobs at home to lift efficiency. The proposed buyback, pending shareholders' approval, is expected to begin after the publication of the first-quarter report and will run until 2027, Ericsson said. ($1 = 9.0026 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Agnieszka Olenska in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak) (The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
