Biotechnology company Genentech Inc. on Wednesday reported a first-quarter profit surge of 68 percent over the same period last year behind continued strong sales of its stable of blockbuster cancer drugs.

For the quarter ended March 31, the company earned $706 million, or 66 cents per share, compared with $421 million, or 39 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding special expenses, Genentech said it would have earned $792 million, or 74 cents a share. On that basis, the results exceeded the per-share estimate among Wall Street analysts by 7 cents, according to research firm Thomson Financial.

Revenue was $2.84 billion in the quarter, an increase of 43 percent from the $1.99 billion a year earlier.

Genentech reiterated that it expects profits to be 25 percent to 30 percent greater this year than last. The South San Francisco-based company's stock price has been rising steadily over the last three years as it posts double-digit growth every quarter.