Analysts on average had expected a dividend of 47.14 crowns, up from 30 crowns for 2021.

It already paid an additional dividend of 10 crowns per share in the fourth quarter.

The increased dividend reflects strong returns from Yara's business model, and the board will consider further cash distributions in the coming quarters, the company said in a statement.

"Yara has demonstrated its resilience in a challenging situation, with its global production and distribution footprint, flexible asset base and world-leading capabilities within ammonia transport and storage," Chief Executive Svein Tore Holsether said in a statement.

October-December earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), excluding one-off items, rose to $1.07 billion from $765 million a year ago, while analysts in a company-provided poll had expected a profit of $988 million.

One of the world's biggest fertiliser makers, Yara last year capped its European ammonia production due to a surge in gas costs. Natural gas is a key feed stock in ammonia production.

It said that as per end-January, it had curtailed an annual capacity of 1.7 million tonnes of ammonia, or 35%, of its European production capacity, unchanged from October.

(Reporting by Victoria Klesty, editing by Terje Solsvik)