Jan 22 (Reuters) - India's Radico Khaitan reported a jump in quarterly profit on Thursday, aided by sustained demand for its pricier liquor, sending its shares up 4%.

The company, home to Rampur, Jaisalmer and Magic Moments brands, posted a 62% rise in profit to 1.55 billion rupees ($16.9 million) for the quarter ended December 31, up from 954.9 million rupees a year ago.

Revenue from operations rose 22% to 54.24 billion rupees, led by a 26% volume growth in its "prestige and above" segment.

For more earnings highlights, click here. (FULL STORY)

KEY CONTEXT

India's growing affluent consumer base continues to splurge on a wide range of premium items, from expensive liquor to jewellery and residential apartments.

Their spending habits have lifted sales of several companies, including jewellery retailer Titan and Radico Khaitan's peer United Spirits, even as less well-off consumers are stretched thin.

"The Indian spirits sector continues to exhibit strong momentum, underpinned by steady demand and an accelerating shift towards premiumization," Lalit Khaitan, chairman and managing director at Radico Khaitan, said in a statement.

PEER COMPARISON

Valuation (next 12 Estimates Analysts

months) (next 12 '

months) sentimen

t

RIC PE EV/EBI Price/ Revenue Profit Mean # of Stock to Div

TDA Sales growth (%) growth rating* analyst price yield

(%) s target** (%)

Radico Khaitan Ltd RADC.NS 53.72 34.34 NULL 15.87 36.87 BUY 9 0.81 0.14

United Spirits Ltd UNSP.NS 48.05 35.01 NULL -10.29 13.52 BUY 10 0.83 1.06

United Breweries Ltd UBBW.NS 52.38 31.69 NULL 11.42 42.36 HOLD 11 0.78 0.69

Tilaknagar Industries Ltd TILK.NS 34.74 28.05 NULL 15.71 -2.94 STRONG 1 0.70 0.25

BUY

* The mean of analyst ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell

** The ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT

SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER STOCK PERFORMANCE

-- All data from LSEG

($1 = 91.6125 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Komal Salecha in Bengaluru and Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)