LINE Corp, the company behind the messaging app of the same name, announced positive second quarter results, while speculation linked it to potential deals with tech giants Alibaba and SoftBank.

The company reported revenue of JPY21.2 billion ($206 million), up 17.5 per cent year on year. The messaging platform alone generated JPY18.2 billion, a 25 per cent increase on the prior quarter and 146 per cent up on the same period a year ago.

The company was reported this week to be in talks with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Japan’s SoftBank about potential partnerships, with both companies believed to be interested in taking a 30 per cent stake.

However, a Reuters source said a stake sale to either company was not being considered by LINE’s parent, Naver Corp. This was repeated by Naver CFO Hwang In-Joon in a conference call with analysts.

Earlier this month, the Japan-based company reportedly applied to be listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange, in a move that could see it valued at nearly $10 billion. It is believed the company is also likely to submit an application to the New York Stock Exchange.

In June, LINE said its messaging platform had reached 470 million registered users, although The Wall Street Journal said this now stands at 480 million.

The company has seen particularly strong growth in Southeast Asia, with its platform-based strategy also proving successful in driving user growth in Mexico, Colombia and other Latin American markets.

The company recently said it had reached one billion downloads for its family of apps, which also include games, three years after its mobile messaging service was launched.

The addition of the LINE Creators Market, in which users can sell their own sticker designs, fuelled sticker sales during the period, with sales of more than JPY150 million during the first month of availability.

Turning to its games business, LINE Corp said it ran TV advertising campaigns in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand and other promotional events during the period, and continued its localisation efforts.

In a recent interview with Mobile World Live, Hyunbin Kang, head of business development for LINE Corp, explained the importance of localisation as the company aims to reach one billion users by the end of 2015.

LINE also reported increased advertising revenue from greater adoption of the Official Account and Sponsored Sticker services across all markets. Uptake of LINE Business Connect was also healthy, and will be boosted by a recent partnership agreed with software vendor Salesforce.com.

“LINE will continue its efforts to surpass the bounds of a messaging service in order to become an infrastructure for communications, and aims to become the leading force in the global market as a mobile platform,” commented LINE Corp CEO, Akira Morikawa.