Good afternoon, thank you for attending today's call. We will now begin Meritz Financial Group's second quarter 2025 earnings call. In today's call, we have prepared three sessions. First, CEO greeting. Second, second quarter 2025 earnings review. Third, Q&A session and will be placed in order. The Q&A session will be divided in two parts: on-site questions from analysts and institutional investors and preliminary questions from general shareholders. Please refer to the transcript for CEO greeting. We will start with the holding company. We have second quarter 2025 highlights on page three. The holding company's consolidated assets reached KRW 124.2 trillion, up 7.5% from the end of last year.
Consolidated net profit for the first half of the year was KRW 1,358.4 billion, a 2.3% increase year-over-year. ROE stood at 26.3%, maintaining the highest level in the industry. Year to date, EPS and BPS for the first half reached KRW 7,390 and KRW 57,519, respectively, up 7.2% and 12.5% year-over-year. On page four, we have the holding company's detailed business performance. Consolidated net profit for second quarter was KRW 737.6 billion, posting a slight year-over-year increase. Despite ongoing domestic and global uncertainties, including tariff policies originating from the U.S., all business segments, excluding insurance profit, reported improved earnings, leading to the highest ever quarterly performance.
Consolidated net profit for the first half of the year was KRW 1,358.4 billion, marking the highest half-year result. Next, on page five, we have the first half of 2025 results by major subsidiaries. Meritz Fire & Marine posted standalone net profit of KRW 987.3 billion. Meritz Securities, KRW 436 billion, and Meritz Capital, KRW 73 billion. In Meritz Fire & Marine, investment profit rose significantly due to higher FVPL gains and a decline in provisions. Net profit decreased by 1% year-over-year as gains on long-term expected and actual variance declined following the end of the medical strike.
Meritz Securities continued its growth trend, driven by solid investment banking performance and improved trading income, recording net profit of KRW 436 billion, up 11.3% year-over-year. Despite the burden of high funding costs, Meritz Capital achieved net profit of KRW 73 billion, up 10% year-over-year, supported by improved corporate finance performance. On page seven. As of second quarter 2025, the holding company's ROE stood at 26.3% and the double leverage ratio at 119.3%. We continue to maintain a high ROE and a stable double leverage ratio. Year-to-date, EPS for the second quarter was KRW 7,390 and BPS KRW 57,519, showing a steady increase in per share value.
Next, on page eight, we have the group's real estate exposure and credit costs. At the end of second quarter 2025, the group's real estate exposure stood at KRW 27.5 trillion, with KRW 23 trillion in domestic and KRW 4.5 trillion overseas. Of this, senior loan accounted for 90% and the average loan to value ratio was around 46%, indicating a portfolio of high quality asset. Net provisions and reserves set aside in second quarter were KRW 46.4 billion, and impairment losses on beneficiary certificates amounted to KRW 0.9 billion, both down year-over-year. In July, partial sales of Homeplus store led to loan repayments, reducing total loan receivables to approximately KRW 1.165 trillion. As a result, KRW 10.5 billion of the loan loss provisions and reserves were reversed.
On page nine, we present the second quarter progress on our Corporate Value Enhancement Plan. As of the end of second quarter, the four PR stood at eight, and the Shareholder Buyback Yield was 12.5%, exceeding our required rate of return of 10%. We continue to pursue a shareholder return policy centered on share buybacks. Since the implementation of our shareholder return policy in 2023, cumulative TSR has reached 172.2%. On March 26, we executed a KRW 550 billion share repurchase trust agreement, and as of the end of July, we had acquired 4.07 million shares worth approximately KRW 468.7 billion. We will continue to implement our shareholder return policy in accordance with the standards disclosed. Moving on to the performance of our major subsidiaries.
Meritz Fire & Marine on page 14. In second quarter 2025, Meritz Fire & Marine posted standalone net profit of KRW 524.7 billion, up 3.5% year-over-year. Although insurance profit declined due to the normalization following the end of the medical strike, investment profit surged driven by higher FVPL gains, resulting in the highest quarterly earnings on record. Net profit for the first half reached KRW 987.3 billion. In second quarter, insurance profit was KRW 364.4 billion, down 24.6% year-over-year. Despite improvements in sales and profitability, the main factor behind the decline was the contraction in gains on long-term expected and actual variance after the end of the medical strike.
In contrast, investment profit reached KRW 342.7 billion, up 77.4% year-over-year, driven by gains from bond replacement trades and an increase in FVPL income. Next is the breakdown of earnings by segment. In the long-term insurance, despite the effects from the market after the phase-out of the zero surrender value product, growth continued, driven by discontinuation of the caregiver daily allowance coverage, a representative loss-making coverage. In line with our strategy of avoiding sales of unprofitable products and focusing solely on customers and the market, Meritz Fire & Marine has rapidly expanded its market share in the long-term insurance market. New business premiums in long-term insurance averaged KRW 9.9 billion per month, up 5% year-over-year. The focus on overall value creation is leading to simultaneous growth in both sales and profitability.
In auto insurance, losses continues due to a decline in sales and an increase in accident rates. In contrast, commercial insurance achieved its highest ever quarterly profit despite large loss events such as the Kumho Tire fire, supported by sustained premium growth and the use of reinsurance to mitigate the impact of large claims. Page 15 is the CSM movement and the new business CSM multiple. At the end of second quarter, the CSM balance stood at KRW 1.124 trillion, up approximately KRW 81.1 billion from the previous quarter. Quarterly new business CSM amounted to KRW 373.1 billion with interest accretion adding KRW 90.3 billion, while CSM adjustments reduced the balance by KRW 95.5 billion. Quarterly CSM amortization was about KRW 286.8 billion.
The CSM multiple for second quarter 2025 was approximately 12.3 and for long-term insurance 12.4, both showing an improving trend year-over-year. Please refer to page 17 and 18 for investment yield and K-ICS ratio. The year-to-date investment yield for second quarter was 4.5% and the preliminary K-ICS ratio stood at 238.9%. Next is Meritz Securities on page 19. Consolidated net profit for second quarter 2025 was KRW 256.1 billion, up 5.2% year-over-year. First half consolidated net profit rose 20% to KRW 443.5 billion. Excluding Meritz Capital, standalone net profit for second quarter was KRW 205.3 billion, improving 6.9% year-over-year.
While first half standalone net profit reached KRW 436 billion, up approximately 11.3% year-over-year. Despite the significant changes in domestic and global condition in second quarter, including tariff measures and the presidential election, we maintained year-over-year earnings improvement through efficient capital deployment and proactive market responses. On page 20 shows operating revenue by business. In second quarter, investment banking profit declined 14% year-over-year due to a reverse base effect from the expansion of new fee income in the second quarter of last year. However, we maintained quarterly profit above KRW 100 billion for three consecutive quarters, supported by the execution of various new deals. Based on high-quality assets, the net interest income improved and the trading income continued to increase with steady growth in assets under management and proactive market engagement.
Although broker's commission revenue declined year-over-year due to promotional impacts, the number of clients and client assets increased, enabling wealth management performance to maintain its upward trend. On page 24, we have the risk management indicators. The consolidated Net Capital Ratio stood at 1,152%. Although Net Operating Capital increased, total risk-weighted assets grew at a faster pace, resulting in a decline from the previous quarter. The ratio of substandard and below loans was 5.9%, showing a slight improvement compared to the first quarter. For capital earnings and more details on securities, please refer to material.