Abm International Ltd
Ratios
Working-Capital Days
Number of daysDebtor DaysInventory DaysDays Payable
How to read this: these lines track how the company manages day-to-day cash. Debtor days is how long customers take to pay; inventory days is how long stock sits before selling; days payable is how long the company takes to pay its own suppliers. Fewer debtor and inventory days generally means cash comes in faster; more days payable means the company holds its cash longer. The right level varies a lot by industry, so the trend over time matters more than any single number.
Return on Capital Employed
ROCE, in %How to read this: return on capital employed (ROCE) shows how much operating profit the company earns from every unit of capital it uses, as a percentage. A higher, steady line over the years suggests the business uses its capital efficiently. As with most ratios, the multi-year trend tells you more than any single year.
| Period | Debtor Days | Inventory Days | Days Payable | Cash Conversion Cycle | Working Capital Days | ROCE % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | 52.92 | 0 | — | 52.92 | -3.32 | — |
| FY2016 | 65.22 | 0 | — | 65.22 | 7.51 | 2.94 |
| FY2017 | 41.20 | 8.98 | 34.31 | 15.87 | 2.54 | 3.70 |
| FY2018 | 72.37 | 0 | — | 72.37 | 21.30 | 1.86 |
| FY2019 | 23.87 | 34.69 | 32.72 | 25.84 | 27.55 | -10.28 |
| FY2020 | 15.73 | 39.45 | 34.27 | 20.91 | 8.33 | -15.62 |
| FY2021 | 15.13 | 14.56 | 8.29 | 21.40 | 20.35 | 66.35 |
| FY2022 | 10.17 | 3.86 | 3.95 | 10.08 | 14.46 | 10.67 |
| FY2023 | 12.44 | 52.57 | 58.62 | 6.39 | 30.23 | -43.17 |
| FY2024 | 18.79 | 53.09 | 50.76 | 21.12 | 8.85 | -18.70 |
| FY2025 | 16.39 | 44.61 | 36.12 | 24.88 | -13.66 | -6.25 |
| FY2026 | 12 | 16.18 | 19.74 | 8.44 | -17.36 | -8.50 |
Understanding these terms
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.
- Debtor Days
- The average number of days the company takes to collect payment from its customers after a sale.How a beginner reads it: A beginner reads fewer days as cash coming in faster. A rising trend can mean customers are taking longer to pay, which ties up cash; readers compare it to the company's own past and to peers.
- Inventory Days
- The average number of days goods sit as inventory before being sold.How a beginner reads it: A beginner reads lower inventory days as stock moving quickly. A rising trend can signal slowing sales or overstocking; the right level varies a lot by industry, so comparison matters.
- Days Payable
- The average number of days the company takes to pay its own suppliers.How a beginner reads it: A beginner reads more days as the company holding onto cash longer — useful, within reason. Reading it next to debtor days shows whether the company collects from customers faster than it pays suppliers.
- Cash Conversion Cycle
- The number of days it takes to turn money spent on inventory back into cash from customers: inventory days plus debtor days minus days payable.How a beginner reads it: A beginner reads a shorter cycle as cash being tied up for less time. A negative cycle — paying suppliers after collecting from customers — is generally a sign of strong working-capital efficiency.
- Working Capital Days
- How many days of sales are tied up in the day-to-day running of the business (receivables and inventory, net of payables).How a beginner reads it: A beginner watches the trend: fewer days means less cash locked into operations. A steadily rising figure can mean growth is consuming more and more cash to sustain.
- ROCE %
- Return on Capital Employed — operating profit as a percentage of the total capital (equity plus debt) the business uses. It measures how efficiently the company turns all its capital into operating profit.How a beginner reads it: A beginner uses ROCE to judge how well a company uses every rupee of capital, regardless of how it is financed. Consistency over many years often matters more to readers than a single high year.