Shares in Australian aged care operator Estia Health debuted at a 13 percent discount to their issue price on Dec. 5 after it raised A$725 million ($608 million) in the country's fourth-largest initial public offering of the year.

Estia shares first traded at A$4.98 at 0100 GMT (08:00 p.m. EST), compared to their A$5.75 issue price. They fell as low as A$4.73 before recovering slightly to A$4.88. The broader market was 0.7 percent lower.

The performance suggests appetite for Australian health listings may be easing after the sector accounted for two thirds of the total value of Australian IPOs in 2014, already the country's biggest year of new listings on record.

A week ago, state-owned health insurer Medibank Private Ltd raised A$5.7 billion in Asia's biggest listing in two years. It has only briefly traded over its A$2.15 issue price, while the broader market has risen slightly.

"It looked fairly fully valued," said IG markets strategist Evan Lucas. "The question you've got to ask yourself is where's the growth."

"It's also a down market and there's low liquidity in the market so that's not helping either."

Melbourne-based Estia is Australia's third aged care firm to list this year, as companies position themselves to benefit from an expected influx of funds as a result of changes to aged care financing rules and the country's aging population.

On Friday, rival Japara Healthcare Ltd was trading at A$1.95, just under its A$2.00 issue price on listing in April, while Regis Healthcare Ltd shares were at A$3.89, a 7 percent premium to their issue price.

The listing gives Estia a market capitalization of A$860 million. Its owners, Australian buyout firm Quadrant Private Equity and the company founders, sold 70 percent of the company in the IPO.