AUTOS

Mazda Motor Corp. posted its first annual profit in six years on Thursday, citing gains in North America and Europe. Japan’s fifth-largest auto maker, which is 33.4% owned by Ford, earned about $310.97 million in the fiscal year ended March 31 contrasted with a loss of about $55 million a year earlier. Sales edged up 0.8% to $16.54 billion. The results were helped by the impact of a weaker yen against the dollar, which increased the value of the company’s dollar-denominated income from overseas.