Swedish telecom company Telia reported quarterly core earnings well ahead of market forecasts on Friday as cost savings helped limit the negative business effects from the pandemic.

Telia said second-quarter adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was 7.74 billion Swedish crowns (£678.52 million), up from 7.47 billion crowns a year earlier and well above the 7.09 billion mean analyst forecast in a Refinitiv poll.

"Our second quarter results were better than our expectations, as a result of proactively addressing our cost base, but still clearly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic," CEO Allison Kirkby said in a statement.

(Reporting by Johannes Hellstrom; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)