A new survey by TD Bank reveals that middle-market CFOs, buoyed by increasing optimism fueled by sales growth, are prepared to increase capital expenditures by dipping into their stockpile of cash reserves.

According to the TD Bank survey, three-quarters of financial decision makers at mid-sized companies said they expect sales to increase over the next 12 months despite lingering economic headwinds, with half (51%) expecting to increase their capital expenditures in 2012, up from 39% last year.

“The survey results reinforce what we’ve been seeing and hearing at the client level,” said Walter Owens, head of Specialty and Corporate Banking at TD Bank. “Middle market companies, much like their larger brethren, have hoarded cash since late 2008, with the expectation that worse days were ahead. 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 persisting economic headaches across the globe, about two-thirds of financial executives said their company’s sales increased over the past 12 months (66%), including 29% who saw increases of 10% or more. This exceeded the expectations for 2011 from last year’s survey, when 58% or respondents expected their sales to increase and a quarter expected sales to increase by 10% or more.

While middle-market executives are more confident in the prospects for their own companies, they’re not as sure about the prospects for the U.S. economy in 2012. The survey revealed a near-even split amongst CFOs who are more optimistic about economic performance in 2012 than they were in 2011 (35%), those who are less optimistic (35%) and those who are neutral (31%).

Financial decision makers may also recognize the impact a sluggish economy could have on their own career paths: a whopping 94% of CFOs surveyed said they plan to stay with their current employer in 2012.

TD Bank polled business executives in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states and Florida to understand their companies’ current financial health, as well as their thoughts on the overall economy and their future business plans and expectations. The survey was conducted in October 2011 by ORC International and surveyed a total of 200 executives at companies with annual sales of $25 million to $250 million.

To read the full TD Bank news release containing additional survey results click here.