As Garanti BBVA we have just announced our second quarter financial results and I'm pleased to share the highlights. In the second quarter we sustained our distinguished earnings strength delivering TRY 28.2 billion net income which translates into 11% quarterly EPS growth. This solid performance was underpinned by resilient Net interest income, robust fee generation and provision reversals from a few large ticket files. Despite tighter than anticipated market conditions, we successfully defended our NII supported by continued customer driven balance sheet growth. In the second quarter, TL loan growth accelerated compared to first quarter and grew by 10%.
We gained notable market share in GPLs and mortgages . Our SME focus remains intact and we further solidified our market position in micro and small enterprises with 24% market share among private banks. On the fee side, performance continues to outpace expectations, reflecting the strength in payment systems, lending related activities and money transfers. Remarkable fee performance enabled us to cover 86% of operating expenses. On the Asset quality front, NPL inflows are normalizing, yet in the second quarter, unbudgeted large ticket provision reversals tied to their recovery performance led a quarterly decline in Net provisions .
As a result, we ended the first half with TRY 53.6 billion in Net earnings, delivering a 30.7% Return on equity while maintaining sound Capital ratios. Looking ahead, given our solid first half delivery and expected market dynamics, we maintain our low 30s ROE guidance which is expected to settle near the lower bound of the guided range. We remain confident in our operational agility and ability to navigate evolving conditions as consistently demonstrated by our track records.