Shares of Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd, the country's biggest pay-TV firm, opened 1 percent higher in their trading debut on Friday, underperforming other recent big listings in Kuala Lumpur's booming IPO market amid concerns about their expensive valuation.

The stock was trading at RM3.03 as of 9.32am, compared with the RM3.00 price set for Malaysia's third-biggest initial public offering this year.

"It reflects the valuation of the stock, it is priced quite expensive. As such it is not moving as much as the previous big IPOs," said an analyst at the research arm of a local bank, who declined to be identified.

Astro, controlled by Malaysia's second-richest man Ananda Krishnan, raised US$1.5 billion in its IPO, bolstered by its position as the top player in the pay-TV market and by strong demand from cornerstone investors such as U.S. hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management.

The IPO followed Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd's US$3.3 billion offering in June and IHH Healthcare Bhd's US$2.1 billion flotation in July, and has pushed Malaysia's 2012 IPO tally to about US$7.9 billion - or nearly one-quarter of all new listings in Asia-Pacific.

By comparison, Felda, a palm oil firm, closed up 16.5 percent on its debut in June, while hospital operator IHH gained 10.5 percent on its first trading day in July.

Four analysts in a Reuters survey had expected Astro to gain between 6 and 10 percent in their debut on Friday.

"On a price-to-earnings (PE) valuation basis, we do find the issue price of RM3.00 per share rather expensive as it would translate to a PE of 32 times based on FY2013 estimated earnings per share," Kuala Lumpur-based TA Securities said in a note ahead of Friday's share debut.

"However on a longer-term basis we believe the premium is justified due to Astro's dominant position within the industry, expected double-digit bottom line growth, and decent bottom line margin for the next five years at least."

Astro, which also counts state investor Khazanah Nasional Bhd as a major shareholder, has a near-monopoly in Malaysia's residential pay-TV market and a subscriber base of 3.1 million.

It is returning to public markets after it was taken private in 2010.

At the offer price of RM3.00 per share, Astro would have a market value of RM15.6 billion (US$5.1 billion), nearly double the RM8.3 billion it was worth when it was taken private.

Astro's IPO is being handled by CIMB Group Holdings Bhd , Malayan Banking Bhd and RHB Capital Bhd. Several foreign banks are also advisers, including UBS AG, Credit Suisse Group AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and JPMorgan Chase and Co. -- Reuters