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 | 153 | 48 | 101 | 100 | 209 | 7 |
| FY2016 | 135 | 34 | 100 | 69 | 178 | 9 |
| FY2017 | 141 | 55 | 118 | 79 | 116 | 6 |
| FY2018 | 145 | 52 | 104 | 94 | 72 | 8 |
| FY2019 | 132 | 150 | 144 | 137 | 80 | 7 |
| FY2020 | 121 | 135 | 191 | 65 | -150 | -3 |
| FY2021 | 103 | 122 | 228 | -3 | -286 | 1 |
| FY2022 | 91 | 94 | 191 | -6 | -223 | 9 |
| FY2023 | 50 | 50 | 107 | -8 | -245 | 9 |
| FY2024 | 40 | 54 | 150 | -55 | -14 | -33 |
| FY2025 | 60 | 64 | 170 | -46 | -87 | -13 |
| FY2026 | 93 | 71 | 242 | -77 | -369 | -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.