Buoyed by a rise in sales growth, middle-market chief financial officers (CFOs) are prepared to increase capital expenditures by dipping into their stockpile of cash reserves, according to a new survey by TD Bank.

Three-quarters of financial decision-makers at mid-sized companies say they expect sales to increase over the next 12 months despite lingering economic headwinds, with 51% indicating that they expect to increase their capital expenditures in 2012, up from 39% last year, according to the survey.

TD Bank's survey was conducted in October by ORC International. A total of 200 executives were surveyed at companies with annual sales of $25 million to $250 million. More than two-thirds of respondents were CFOs or held similar titles, including comptroller, treasurer or director of finance. The remainder were executives who have at least some influence over financial decisions at their companies.

Walter Owens, head of specialty and corporate Banking at TD Bank, said the bank's survey results reinforce what the company has been seeing at the client level.

"Middle-market companies, much like their larger brethren, have hoarded cash since late 2008, with the expectation that worse days were ahead,'' Owens said. "Now with interest rates at record lows and the Fed promising to stay the course through 2012 into 2013, the negative headwinds are abating and companies are making strategic capital investments so that they emerge stronger."

Despite continued international and national economic headaches, an estimated 66% of those financial executives queried say their company's sales increased over the past 12 months, with an estimated 29% of those executives indicating they've posted sales increases of 10% or more. This year's survey results exceeded last year's survey, when 58% or respondents expected their sales to increase, and a quarter expected sales to increase by 10% or more.

However, while middle-market executives are more confident in the prospects for their own companies, they're not equally sure about the prospects for the U.S. economy in 2012. The survey revealed that 35% of CFOs are more optimistic about economic performance in 2012 than they were in 2011, 35% are less optimistic and 31% are neutral.

"There are certainly still challenges to be met in 2012 and beyond, but I believe cautious business optimism is warranted," said Fred Graziano, head of regional commercial banking and government and small business banking at TD Bank. "Within our footprint, we're seeing customers capitalize on the low interest rate environment by expanding their businesses, and those who exercised prudence during the volatility are well-positioned to win market share."