VIGA Faucet Manufacturer 
As of the end of June, Japanese listed companies have almost issued their fiscal year 2019 reports. According to the performance and operating profit of major building materials companies in fiscal year 2019, the Japanese media restructuring industry news has sorted out the top 18 Japanese building materials companies. The top three are Panasonic Life Solutions, LIXIL and TOTO. Other sanitary ware-related companies on the list also include Rinnai, Takara Standard, Cleanup, Woodone, EIDAI etc.
NO.1
Panasonic Life Solutions
Life Solutions is a subsidiary of the Panasonic Group. Its sales and operating profit for fiscal year 2019 were JPY 1912.50 billion and JPY 179.98 billion, a decrease of 6.0% and an increase of 178.0%, respectively. Life Solutions includes the Housing Systems Division, which consolidated the sanitary business during the reporting period. As the sanitary ware business continued to improve, both results and net income of the Housing Systems Division have increased. From April 2020, the Housing Systems Division has been placed under Panasonic’s head office.
NO.2
LIXIL Group
LIXIL Group is one of the two Japanese building materials companies with sales of more than JPY 1 trillion. In fiscal year 2019, sales were JPY 169.443 billion, a slight increase of 0.1%; operating profit for the same period was JPY 39.12 billion, a decrease of 20.2%. Operating profit margin was 2.3%. The most recent actions of the LIXIL Group include the sale of Equity in two subsidiaries, Permasteelisa and Lixil Viva.
NO.3
TOTO
TOTO ranked third among Japanese building materials companies last year with sales of JPY 596.49 billion, and its operating profit margin also ranked third at JPY 36.76 billion, with an operating profit margin of 6.2%. TOTO’s sales in the Chinese market increased by 12% last year. Sales of various categories including sanitary ceramics, washlet, taps hardware, etc. have all increased, and sales of taps hardware increased by 30%.
NO.4
YKK AP
YKK AP, the largest window and door company in Japan, also has business in China. It has launched two series of products, LD broken bridge aluminum alloy doors and windows and L aluminum alloy doors and windows, which are suitable for the Chinese market. In fiscal 2019, YKK AP achieved sales of JPY 425.80 billion and an operating profit of JPY 22.80 billion, with an operating margin of 5.4%.
NO.5
Rinnai
The well-known water heater company Rinnai ranked fifth with JPY 340.46 billion in sales in fiscal year 2019, and its operating profit margin ranked fourth at JPY 34.42 billion. The operating profit margin was one of two of the 18 building materials companies on the list to exceed 10%. It is worth mentioning that Rinnai’s sales in the Chinese market reached RMB 2.9 billion in 2019, of which online water heater sales increased by 18%.
NO.6
DAIKEN Industry
DAIKEN Industry is a comprehensive building materials company. Its products cover solid wood composite doors and solid wood composite floors. Its market share in the wood products industry has been in the top three in Japan for years and entered the Chinese market in 2002. In fiscal
year 2019, DAIKEN Industries’ sales increased by 10.7% to 202.48 billion yen, ranking second in sales growth among the 18 building materials companies on the list.
NO.7
Takara Standard
The Japanese professional sanitary ware company, second only to TOTO in sales, achieved sales of JPY 20.152 billion in fiscal year 2019 and an operating profit of JPY 12.63 billion. Takara Standard’s products cover bathrooms, kitchens and water heaters, etc., and the most well-known product is the integral bathroom. The company’s integral bathroom are made of a material called “enamel”, which not only has a long service life, but can also be used as a magnet, and can withstand a magnitude 6 earthquake, which is loved by many local users.
NO.8
Sangetsu
The Chinese name is “山月”, and the main products include wallpapers, floor materials, curtains, seat fabrics, etc. In fiscal year 2019, sales reached JPY 161.26 billion, a slight increase of 0.5%, and operating profit increased by 57.2% to JPY 9.26 billion. Operating profit growth ranked third among the 18 listed building materials companies.
NO.9
Nichiha
A professional external wall panel company, headquartered in Nagoya, with an overseas sales department, and the official Chinese name is “日吉华”. It entered the Chinese market in 2004 and has two subsidiaries (factories) in Jiaxing, Zhejiang. In fiscal year 2019, sales were JPY 123.72 billion, operating profit was 130.9%, and operating profit margin was 10.6%. This indicator ranked first among the 18 companies on the list.
NO.10
Cleanup
A professional kitchen and bathroom company established for more than 70 years. The main products are integrated kitchens, integrated bathrooms and washbasins. The integrated bathroom products focus on the two series of Aqulia and Yuasis. Cleanup’s sales have exceeded the JPY 100 billion mark in recent years, and last year increased by 2.9% to JPY 107.52 billion.
NO.11
Toli
The main products include floors, carpets, wallpapers, curtains, etc, with the sales of JPY 94.70 billion, and the operating profit was JPY 2.38 billion, an increase of 4.8% and 19.7%, respectively in fiscal year 2019. However, the company forecasts fiscal 2020 sales and operating income will decline by 6.0 percent and 20.3 percent, respectively.
NO.12
Woodone
Wooden comprehensive building materials company. It’s products involved cabinetry, flooring, cabinets, vanities, doors, windows, stairs and other products, most of which are made of logs. In fiscal year 2019, it achieved sales of JPY 63.56 billion, a year-on-year increase of 0.9%, and achieved operating profit of JPY 1.94 billion, which tripled from the previous year. It was the Japanese building materials company with the largest increase in operating profit. It is worth mentioning that Woodone has Woodone (Shanghai) Building Materials Co., Ltd. and Zhujian (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in China.
NO.13
EIDAI
It is also a comprehensive building materials company, and its products include wooden doors, cabinets, floors, stairs, integrated kitchens, vanities, etc. In recent years, a vanity product “AQUAGE LUXE” that integrates dressing and other functions has been launched, advertised that it can be used in the bedroom. EIDAI is the only company that has recorded a loss in operating profit among the 18 companies on the list, with a loss of JPY 750 million and an operating profit rate of -1.3%, which ranks last in this index.
NO.14
FUKUVI Chemical Industry
A comprehensive company that serves a wide range of industries with its resin products, from residential interiors to public facilities. Precision products are used in automobiles, mobile phones, game consoles, cameras and other products. However, Fukuvi’s fiscal year 2019 was not very good. Sales were only the same as the same period last year, and operating profit dropped by 33.9%.
NO.15
TOSO
TOSO celebrated its 70th anniversary in September 2019 and is one of Japan’s older building materials companies. In fiscal year 2019, sales and operating profit were JPY 22.68 billion and JPY 900 million, an increase of 0.2% and 30.9%. While TOSO predicts that these two indicators will be -3.0% and -22.3% in fiscal 2020.
NO.16
Kikusui Chemical Industry
Founded in 1959 with the external name Kikusui. It is a coating manufacturer whose products also involve roofing, bonding agents, and fireproof materials. Kikusui Chemical Industry went public in 2014, and established branches in Hong Kong, Changshu, and Taiwan in China in the following three years. The Changshu plant was put into operation in 2017. Kikusui Chemical Industry achieved sales of JPY 21.62 billion in fiscal year 2019, basically the same as the previous year.
NO.17
Nankai Plywood
The main products are cabinets, and it also produces stairs, ceilings, floors, etc. The brand name is “Nankai”, and some subsidiaries are named “南海”. In fiscal year 2019, it achieved sales of JPY 19.73 billion, an increase of 2.3%, operating profit of JPY 1.72 billion, an increase of 10.0%, and an operating profit rate of 8.7%, which is a relatively high level among Japanese building materials companies.
NO.18
Beauty Industry
Although sales are the lowest among the 18 companies, at only JPY 13.66 billion, sales growth ranks first, reaching 18.4%. This is a building materials company focusing on engineering channels. It has provided products and services for many schools, cultural facilities, hotels, government offices, stadiums, etc. in Japan.
In terms of sales,, Japanese building materials companies can be roughly divided into four levels. Panasonic Life Solutions and LIXIL Group, which exceed JPY 1 trillion, belong to the first level, and TOTO, YKK AP and Rinnai, which exceed JPY 300 billion, belong to the The second-level. While DAIKEN Industries, ranked sixth, to Cleanup, ranked tenth, are in the third-level. Those with sales of less than JPY 100 billion belong to the fourth-level. Companies in the first and second levels are all well-known companies, and most of the sanitary ware-related companies belong to these two levels. It can be seen that sanitary ware still occupies a pivotal position in the Japanese building materials market.