Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Daiichi Sankyo Co., Japan's third- largest drugmaker, more than tripled profit in the third quarter, helped by rising demand for its blood pressure medicines.

Net income was 36.2 billion yen ($340 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31. Profit a year earlier of 10.8 billion yen included a one-time charge related merger costs. Revenue rose 2.9 percent to 252.1 billion yen. Earnings were calculated by subtracting first-half results from the nine-month figures the Tokyo-based company reported today.

Daiichi Sankyo kept its full-year profit forecast of 100 billion yen made in October.

Profit in the nine-month period rose 24 percent to 96.4 billion yen, or 133 yen a share, from 77.7 billion yen, or 107 yen a share, a year earlier, the maker of the Benicar hypertension medicine said in a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Revenue in the nine-month period fell 4.8 percent to 695.8 billion yen from a year-earlier 730.6 billion yen.

Daiichi Sankyo, created in September 2005 by Sankyo Co.'s purchase of Daiichi Pharmaceutical Co., rose 20 yen, or 0.6 percent, to 3,130 yen on the exchange at 1:35 p.m. local time, and has declined 9 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kanoko Matsuyama in Tokyo at at kmatsuyama2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 30, 2008 23:37 EST