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.
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 | 487 | 107 | 23 | 571 | 429 | 2 |
| FY2016 | 249 | 96 | 118 | 227 | 117 | 4 |
| FY2017 | 513 | 110 | 200 | 423 | 118 | 4 |
| FY2018 | 244 | 110 | 195 | 159 | 125 | 5 |
| FY2019 | 299 | 93 | 64 | 328 | 233 | 4 |
| FY2020 | 224 | 67 | 113 | 177 | 199 | 6 |
| FY2021 | 167 | 61 | 111 | 118 | 165 | 5 |
| FY2022 | 150 | 50 | 67 | 133 | 173 | 9 |
| FY2023 | 88 | 39 | 34 | 93 | 106 | 13 |
| FY2024 | 80 | 45 | 47 | 77 | 98 | 10 |
| FY2025 | 85 | 40 | 52 | 72 | 94 | 11 |
| FY2026 | 121 | 31 | 101 | 51 | 121 | 7 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.