July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Fujitsu Ltd., Japan’s biggest computer-services provider, said it’s targeting record profit in the 12 months ending March 31, 2012, as spending on software and information-technology infrastructure recovers.

Net income will probably be a record 130 billion yen ($1.38 billion) for the fiscal period while operating profit, or revenue minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, may reach 250 billion yen, its highest ever, on sales projected at 5 trillion yen, the Tokyo-based company said today.

“Fiscal 2009 will represent the bottom for our business environment with a recovery strongly expected in fiscal 2010 as economic rescue measures begin to take effect around the world,” President Kuniaki Nozoe said at a briefing in Tokyo.

The company, which forecasts a return to profit this fiscal year, is selling its money-losing hard-disk-drive business to Toshiba Corp. to focus on semiconductor and software operations. Fujitsu also plans to outsource some chip production to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to cut spending and help make the unit profitable next year.

Fujitsu climbed 3.4 percent to close at 543 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the highest since Oct. 7, while the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.7 percent.

“IT investment is expected to rebound in FY2010 as companies replace aging IT assets, upgrade mission-critical systems, and comply with new regulations,” Fujitsu said in a statement.

Increase Overseas Sales

The company aims to increase the proportion of overseas sales to more than 40 percent of revenue in the year ending March 2012, from 32 percent last year, it said. Fujitsu’s acquisition of Siemens AG’s stake in their European personal computer and server venture, Fujitsu Siemens Computers Holding BV, will help drive the expansion, it said.

For the current year ending March 2010, net income will probably be 20 billion yen, from a deficit of 112.4 billion yen a year earlier, as losses in its chip business narrow, Fujitsu said in April. The shortfall at the semiconductor unit will narrow to 15 billion yen in the period from 60 billion yen, it said.

Fujitsu, which sold its liquid-crystal display unit to Sharp Corp. in 2005 and its plasma-screen business to Hitachi Ltd., in February said it reached a final agreement to sell its hard-disk drive business to Toshiba for about 30 billion yen. The sale of the business, which lost 20 billion yen last fiscal year, will be completed by August 1, Fujitsu said last month.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at palpeyev@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 23, 2009 04:45 EDT