TOKYO, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co said on Thursday its nine-month profit more than doubled from a year earlier, driven by sales of its core branded drugs.

Operating profit was 358.7 billion yen ($3.41 billion) in the nine months through Dec. 31, the drugmaker said.

Takeda held its full-year operating profit forecast steady at 434 billion yen ($4.13 billion). That compares with a consensus forecast for profit of 512.5 billion yen, according to a Refinitiv poll of 11 analysts. ($1 = 105.1600 yen) (Reporting by Rocky Swift Editing by Shri Navaratnam)