Sumit Roy, president and CEO, Realty Income Corp. (NYSE: O), participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITworld: 2020 Annual Conference.
Roy noted that rent collection across the portfolio “continues to show resiliency and has continued to improve over the last few months.” Approximately 50% of the portfolio, which is entirely investment grade, continues to pay 100% of rent, he said.
Realty Income’s top four business tenants—convenience stores, drug stores, dollar stores, and grocery stores—have been deemed essential retail and continue to perform “really well,” Roy said. The AMC Theater business, however, continues to face challenges, he noted.
Meanwhile, Roy said the REIT has seen cap rates compress, and good product has become available both in the U.S. and the UK. Year to date, Realty Income has carried out $1.3 billion of acquisitions, and has just raised the guidance for 2020 to nearly $2 billion. “Clearly the pipeline remains healthy…we are winning our fair share of transactions,” he added.