Glenn Rufrano, CEO of VEREIT (NYSE: VER), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITworld: 2018 Annual Conference in San Francisco.
Rufrano said the company had a good third quarter, including good acquisition, disposition, and leasing activity. “We made AFFO guidance, so we gave new guidance for the year, and narrowed the guidance up a bit, which is good,” he said.
Heading into 2019, Rufrano said the November midterm elections may have some impact on VEREIT’s performance.
“We believe it could be positive—the market certainly thought it was positive,” he said. “What we really care about is health in the economy, and health in our tenants. If our tenants pay rent, everything else goes fine.”
Rufrano noted that Amazon may impact the grocery and pharmacy businesses in the coming years.
“They’re going to make those retailers—those pharmacies and those stores—they’re going to make them better,” he said. “I believe that the good merchants in those categories will still exist [but] they’ll change a bit.”