<p><span>McCarthy &amp; Stone has seen Covid-19 have a “significant impact” on its financial performance, with legal completions down 44% during its half year and the company making a pre-tax loss during the period.</span><span></span></p> <p><span>Reporting on the six months to April 30 2020, the retirement housebuilder said its legal completions had dropped from 845 homes in H1 2019 to 471, with the average selling price falling 7% to £297,000.</span><span></span></p> <p><span>The company posted a pre-tax loss of £91.3 million compared to H1 2019’s pre-tax profit of £3.6 million. Revenue fell 64% to £101.1 million, with the company making an underlying operating loss of £24.8 million against an underlying operating profit of £21.3 million, “primarily impacted by the lower level of completions as a result of Covid-19”.</span></p> <p><span>It noted that while the country had passed the peak of the virus, the financial effects would be weighted towards its second half. On June 2, McStone secured Covid Corporate Financing Facility funding of £300 million which is currently undrawn.</span></p> <p><span>The business said it had responded early to Covid-19 with its “absolute” focus on customers and staff meaning that infection rates were 27% lower than the general over 65s UK population and “four times lower than …