Mazda Motor Corp. said Thursday its consolidated net profit in the first half of fiscal 2003 doubled from a year earlier to 11.15 billion yen.

Profit rose for the third consecutive year due to successful cost reductions and increased sales in Europe, China and Australia, it said.

The automaker, based in Fuchu, Hiroshima Prefecture, said the yen's depreciation against the euro and other currencies helped offset the negative impact of the yen-dollar exchange rate and brought foreign-exchange profits in the April-September period.