Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- J.C. Penney Co. plans to close 33 stores and eliminate about 2,000 jobs to help save $65 million a year as Chief Executive Officer Mike Ullman tries to turn around the money-losing department-store chain.

The closings and cuts will result in pretax charges of $26 million in the fourth quarter and $17 million in future periods, the Plano, Texas-based company said today in a statement.

Ullman, who returned in April to replace Ron Johnson, has restored promotions, brought back popular private-label brands and reinstated commissions for some salesmen while ending his predecessor’s strategy of remodeling the stores into collections of boutiques. The chain has gone nine straight quarters without a profit, and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg are estimating it will post a $207 million loss for the current quarter.

“The closing of 33 stores sounds like not all is well,” Paul Swinand, an analyst for Morningstar Inc. in Chicago, said today in a telephone interview. “It’s also not a massive restructuring.”

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