PORTLAND – UnumProvident Corp. reported Tuesday that earnings fell sharply in the second quarter because of nearly $56 million in investment losses.

The company reported second-quarter net income of $96.8 million, or 40 cents per share, down from earnings of $146.1 million for the same quarter in 2001.

UnumProvident said it had investment losses of $55.9 million for the quarter. It had previously announced huge investment losses in Enron Corp. and WorldCom, the bankrupt energy and telecommunications companies.

Without the investment losses, UnumProvident reported operating income of 63 cents per share. That was in line with analysts’ expectations, according to Thomson First Call.

The company for the quarter had revenues of $2.4 billion, up about 5 percent from a year earlier.

UnumProvident, which says it is jointly headquartered in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Portland, is the nation’s top disability insurer.