SINGAPORE, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Malaysian telecommunications and digital conglomerate Axiata Group said on Wednesday it had decided to exit Nepal and reclassify its mobile service unit Ncell in the country as an asset held for sale.

"The outlook in Nepal is increasingly challenging, thus the board has decided to exit Nepal and accordingly reclassify Ncell as asset held for sale," the company said in a statement.

"We believe this move will place Axiata in a much stronger position to deliver on our strategic priorities and is in the best long-term interest of all our shareholders," it added.

The move comes after Axiata, backed by Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, reported on Wednesday a surge in its third quarter net loss to 797.41 million ringgit ($171.50 million) from 52.4 million ringgit a year ago, weighed mainly by asset impairments following the reclassification of Ncell as an asset held for sale.

($1 = 4.6495 ringgit) (Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui Editing by Mark Potter)