STOCKHOLM - Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson on Tuesday reported core earnings and sales above expectations helped by a rebound in demand for 5G gear in North America.

Its adjusted core earnings, excluding impairments, stood at 7.33 billion Swedish crowns ($702.4 million) compared with 3.9 billion crowns reported a year earlier and beat a 5.75 billion crown mean forecast in an LSEG poll of analysts.

Net sales declined by 4% from year earlier period to 61.8 billion crowns but beat estimates of 61.6 billion.

"We see signs that the overall market is stabilising with North America, as an early adopter market, returning to growth," CEO Borje Ekholm said in a statement.

However, the company said that the growth in North American markets was offset by lower customer investment levels in other regions.

($1 = 10.4353 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee, editing by Terje Solsvik)