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 | 150 | 48.50 | 27.82 | 170 | 163 | 11.12 |
| FY2016 | 137 | 50.87 | 11.96 | 176 | 112 | 6.49 |
| FY2017 | 101 | 87.69 | 84.48 | 104 | 98.84 | 11.09 |
| FY2018 | 162 | 61.43 | 104 | 119 | 99.41 | 6.44 |
| FY2019 | 316 | 169 | 312 | 173 | 205 | 5.10 |
| FY2020 | 266 | 324 | 199 | 391 | 321 | 3.65 |
| FY2021 | 356 | 303 | 211 | 448 | 379 | 4.74 |
| FY2022 | 496 | 147 | 397 | 246 | 374 | 5.49 |
| FY2023 | 729 | 535 | 484 | 780 | 477 | 4.97 |
| FY2024 | 938 | 283 | 200 | 1,021 | 479 | 2.98 |
| FY2025 | 949 | 353 | 235 | 1,066 | 496 | 3.32 |
| FY2026 | 724 | 222 | 158 | 787 | 366 | 3.81 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.