Real estate trust firms in South Korea saw their combined profit fall 5.5 percent in 2019 from a year earlier due to increased operating costs, data showed Tuesday.

The combined net profit of 14 real estate trusts stood at 480 billion won ($379 million) in 2019, compared with 507.9 billion won in 2018, according to the data released by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Real estate investment trusts are a type of security that invests in real estate to be traded on major exchanges and provides investors with stakes in real estate, such as office buildings, apartments and hotels.

The FSS said increased operating costs resulted in the on-year decline in the real estate trust companies' net profit as three newcomers joined the market last year.

All firms, except the three new companies, were in the black, with their average net income coming to 44.6 billion won for 2019, the regulator said.

According to the data, the trusts' combined assets rose 19 percent on-year to 5.6 trillion won in 2019, with total liabilities climbing 15.5 percent to 2.34 trillion won. (Yonhap)