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 | 38 | 158 | 95 | 101 | -3 | 13 |
| FY2016 | 12 | 902 | 132 | 783 | 342 | 6 |
| FY2017 | 27 | 2,581 | 292 | 2,315 | 722 | 8 |
| FY2018 | 87 | 1,787 | 113 | 1,761 | 574 | 4 |
| FY2019 | 23 | 5,381 | 245 | 5,159 | 949 | 6 |
| FY2020 | 3 | — | — | 3 | 1,063 | 7 |
| FY2021 | 6 | 2,651 | 120 | 2,537 | 1,649 | 5 |
| FY2022 | 88 | — | — | 88 | 356 | 9 |
| FY2023 | 12 | — | — | 12 | 406 | 7 |
| FY2024 | 13 | 1,419 | 244 | 1,188 | 136 | 8 |
| FY2025 | 19 | 503 | 14 | 508 | 26 | 14 |
| FY2026 | 7 | — | — | 7 | 47 | 8 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.