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 | 20 | 141 | 110 | 52 | -57 | 4 |
| FY2016 | 23 | 151 | 110 | 64 | -19 | 7 |
| FY2017 | 21 | 131 | 99 | 54 | -48 | 12 |
| FY2018 | 20 | 113 | 97 | 37 | -26 | 21 |
| FY2019 | 19 | 120 | 130 | 8 | 18 | 42 |
| FY2020 | 12 | 216 | 125 | 102 | 43 | 27 |
| FY2021 | 31 | 169 | 134 | 66 | 46 | 0 |
| FY2022 | 27 | 80 | 89 | 17 | 32 | 18 |
| FY2023 | 26 | 77 | 87 | 16 | 9 | 52 |
| FY2024 | 12 | 102 | 98 | 16 | -5 | 25 |
| FY2025 | 26 | 127 | 75 | 78 | 28 | 4 |
| FY2026 | 33 | 87 | 53 | 68 | 36 | 0 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.