Jin Co., whose sales of antiglare eyewear drove its stock up more than fourfold last year, said revenue, helped by overseas expansion, will reach ¥100 billion by 2018, two years earlier than expected.
The company wants to triple the number of its stores across Japan to 500 and expand Chinese outlets 10-fold to 100 in five years, and also enter the U.S. and European markets, Chief Executive Officer Hitoshi Tanaka said.
Tokyo-based Jin trades at 31 times estimated earnings, compared with an average 20 times for companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s first section, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Jin, which makes the Jins PC eyewear that reduces screen brightness from computers and smartphones, surged 315 percent last year, compared with a 14 percent gain in the Jasdaq stock index. The company will be worth more than ¥1 trillion in 10 years, joining Japan’s largest companies, including Toyota Motor Corp., Nintendo Co. and Fast Retailing Co., Tanaka said.
“Fast Retailing’s CEO Tadashi Yanai boosted the company’s market capitalization by ¥1 trillion in 10 years, so I am motivated to do the same,” Tanaka, 50, said in an interview last week.
Only 71 firms among the 3,500 listed companies in Japan exceeded ¥1 trillion in market value as of Monday, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The size of Japan’s eyewear market contracted by about a fifth to ¥462 billion in 2011 from 2004 as contact lenses and Lasik eye surgery became popular, said Yutaka Minobe, president of Gankyo Publishing Co., which monitors the industry’s trends.
“Prices have also been falling and the population is shrinking,” Minobe said. “New products such as the PC glasses, and special eyewear for pollen allergies and sports may help revive the market among young people.”