The Swedish group's operating profit grew to 5.15 billion Swedish crowns ($49.62 billion) from a year-earlier 4.01 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had on average expected a profit of 5.16 billion crowns.

The rival to Allegion and Stanley Black & Decker proposed a dividend of 4.80 crowns per share for 2022, up from a year-earlier 4.20 crowns and higher than the 4.66 crowns seen by analysts.

(Reporting by Marie Mannes, editing by Anna Ringstrom and Terje Solsvik)