* Q1 profit 69.63 bln yen vs 73.17 bln yen a year ago
* Full-year forecast kept at 219 bln yen
* Blames strong yen for drop in Q1 profit, revenues
TOKYO, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Astellas Pharma Inc, Japan's second-largest drugmaker, reported on Monday a 4.8 percent drop in April-June recurring profit due to a strong yen.
Major Japanese drugmakers, which rack up about half of their revenue abroad each year, were hurt by a strong yen and tough competition, as well as rising safety hurdles for new drugs.
Astellas kept its recurring profit forecast for the full year to March 2010 at 219 billion yen, which falls short of a 235 billion yen profit in a poll of 15 analysts by Thomson Reuters. For the first quarter, Astellas posted a recurring profit of 69.63 billion yen ($735 million) down from 73.17 billion yen in the same period a year ago.
Takeda Pharmaceutical and Daiichi Sankyo, Japan's No.1 and No.3 drugmakers, posted lacklustre quarterly results on Friday.
In contrast, bigger overseas rivals such as Switzerland's Roche have mostly reported impressive earnings, enjoying the strength of their underlying businesses and staying free of adverse currency moves.
Astellas shares are flat so far this year, underperforming the benchmark Nikkei average, which is up about 17 percent. (Reporting by Yumiko Nishitani; Editing by Joseph Radford)