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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2009 | 70 | 261 | 1 | 329 | 182 | 11 |
| FY2010 | 66 | 180 | 0 | 246 | 142 | 15 |
| FY2011 | 73 | 166 | 70 | 170 | 15 | 12 |
| FY2012 | 77 | 124 | 63 | 137 | 10 | 17 |
| FY2013 | 76 | 132 | 69 | 139 | 20 | 20 |
| FY2014 | 73 | 126 | 75 | 124 | 96 | 28 |
| FY2015 | 76 | 105 | 58 | 123 | 93 | 25 |
| FY2016 | 68 | 92 | 63 | 96 | 87 | 25 |
| FY2017 | 71 | 165 | 120 | 116 | 84 | 24 |
| FY2018 | 73 | 99 | 78 | 94 | 76 | 25 |
| FY2019 | 66 | 88 | 104 | 51 | 56 | 28 |
| FY2020 | 60 | 67 | 57 | 71 | 54 | 41 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.