Aug 4 (Reuters) - Premium jeans brand True Religion Apparel Inc's (TRLG.O) quarterly profit beat market expectations as margins improved helped by a segment-mix shift towards its higher-margin consumer direct business, and raised the full-year outlook.

True Religion Brand Jeans

"In the second quarter, we continued to build brand awareness through the expansion of our consumer direct platform," Chief Executive Jeffrey Lubell said in a statement.

For the second quarter, True Religion, which sells specially-styled denims and sportswear, earned $11.0 million, or 45 cents a share, compared with $9.3 million, or 39 cents a share, last year.

Revenue rose 12.4 percent to $72.1 million.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 39 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $71.4 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Net sales for the Company's consumer direct segment, which includes its branded retail stores and e-commerce site, increased 59.8 percent to $28.2 million.

For fiscal 2009, the company now expects to earn $1.76 to $1.84 a share, up from its prior view of $1.73 to $1.81 a share. It also raised the revenue outlook by $3 million to $293 to $300 million.

Shares of the Vernon, California-based company rose 2 percent to $22.95 in trading after the bell. They closed at $22.50 Tuesday 4 August on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Bangalore; Editing by Pradeep Kurup)