The majority of Pittsburgh business leaders expect higher profits in 2010, a sign that the economy is healing, according to a new survey by the international accounting firm KPMG.

Forty-six percent of those polled said they expected a moderate gain in profits this year, while another 14 percent projected a "significant" increase, the survey found.

Roughly one-quarter of respondents said they expected profits to be flat, while 13 percent projected a decline.

"Pittsburgh business leaders view 2010 as an economic turning point with a brighter outlook for profits, offering further evidence that a recovery may be under way," KPMG partner Pete Mendes said.

The survey, which polled 57 area corporate executives and board members attending a KPMG roundtable last week, also found that cost-cutting would continue to be a focus for area companies this year.

When asked what steps their companies would take to aid growth, 17 of 29 people responding, or 60 percent, said further cost reductions were planned.

Other often-mentioned steps were: investing in new products (52 percent), searching for merger or acquisition opportunities (52 percent) and pursuing business transformation through technology or other means (52 percent).

In other findings, concerns about legal exposure and disclosing competitive information were cited as the top roadblocks to being more transparent about internal company operations.

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