Messaging app LINE is targeting 300 million users by the end of the year, as it reported a 349 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue for its second quarter.

Akira Morikawa, CEO of Line Corporation, said the company is aiming to reach 300 million users — a figure recently passed by messaging rival WhatsApp — “within 2013”.

The company reported in July that it had hit 200 million users worldwide, just six months after passing the 100 million mark. There has been particularly strong growth in Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Spain and Indonesia.

To achieve its goal, LINE Corporation has been marketing its services globally with joint promotions in Indonesia, Malaysia and Mexico.

“We will continue to actively invest in new opportunities and conduct new challenges so as to become a common piece of communication infrastructure worldwide,” said Morikawa.

LINE Corporation’s Q2 revenue from its OTT messaging app, which represented 76 per cent of the company’s total revenue, was JPY9.77 billion ($10.2 million), up 67 per cent compared with the previous quarter.

Just over half of the revenue (53 per cent) for the app was from in-game purchases, 27 per cent from sticker purchases, and the remainder from official accounts and sponsored stickers.

LINE Corporation’s revenue as a whole for the second quarter was JPY12.8 billion, up 349 per cent year on year and 45 per cent compared to the prior quarter.