Robust sales failed to prevent a drop in profits for Chinese listed property developers, a report revealed on Friday.

Falling profits were reported by 87 listed property developers in 2012, against 61 in 2011, according to the report jointly released by the China Real Estate Research Institute, China Real Estate Association and China Real Estate Evaluation Center.

Average net profits for property developers stood at 1.182 billion yuan ($190.6 million) last year, a slide from the previous year, the report showed, without specifying the exact falling rate.

And three key indexes also dropped over the year.

The cost profit margin fell 31.87 percent, the rate of return on net assets saw an 11.23 percent decline and the return on total assets dropped 5.21 percent.

Developers focusing on expanding operations rather than the profitability of certain projects was a cause for the fall in profits, the report suggested.