Investors Chronicle

Are you paying £5 for a coffee? £4 for mayonnaise? With food and drink inflation still on the rise, the IC team asks whether consumer goods companies are reaching the limits of what they can charge households. Jennifer Johnson discusses the latest trading update from Unilever (ULVR) as well as its spin-off plans, and examines figures from US consumer giants, too. Also under the microscope are two other consumer staples businesses: Reckitt Benckiser (RKT) and Haleon (HLN).With local elections taking place across the UK this week, we consider the implications of Labour's rail nationalisation plan. Was the reaction from Trainline (TRN) and FirstGroup (FGP) investors overdone? Chris Akers is on hand to give his views.Meanwhile this week's cover story looks at the world's largest companies. Michael Fahy asks what we can learn from the rankings, and considers the outlook for the likes of ASML (NL:ASML) and Toyota Motor (JP:720