Sweden's Tele2 plans to cut more than 600 jobs in 2025

OSLO (Reuters) - Swedish telecoms group Tele2 plans to cut more than 600 jobs in 2025 as it seeks to reduce costs and boost profitability, the company said as it reported a rise in fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday.

"Tele2 has initiated a transformation that aims to improve profitability through stricter prioritisation, reinforced cost consciousness and a simplified organisation," the company said in its earnings report for the October-December period.

The planned cuts include a workforce reduction of "around 15%", subject to labour union negotiations, the company added. Tele2 had 4,438 employees at the end of 2023, the most recent overview on its web site showed.

"This will be a challenging time for all our colleagues, especially those directly affected by the reorganisation," Tele2 CEO Jean Marc Harion said.

"These changes are however necessary to make Tele2 a faster and more agile company, better equipped to swiftly capture market opportunities," he said.

Tele2's net profit rose in the fourth quarter to 1.0 billion crowns ($91.10 million) from 0.9 billion crowns a year prior.

($1 = 10.9770 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Anna Ringstrom)