(Bloomberg) -- Daimler AG issued its second profit warning in four months, blaming expenses related to accusations of diesel cheating and the cost of replacing air-conditioning refrigerant on older cars.

The shares fell the most intraday in more than two years after the German maker of Mercedes-Benz cars said group earnings before interest and taxes will be significantly below market expectations. Daimler agreed in June to the recall of some 774,000 diesel vehicles in Europe to resolve government allegations it used illegal defeat devices in its engines.

The shares were down 4.1 percent to 50.24 euros at 3:01 p.m. in Frankfurt, after declining as much as 7 percent earlier.

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Before the announcement, analysts were predicting full-year earnings before interest and tax of 13.09 billion euros ($15 billion), based on the average estimate compiled by Bloomberg, down 11 percent from last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anthony Palazzo in London at apalazzo@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Elisabeth Behrmann

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