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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 215 | 46 | 118 | 142 | 110 | — |
| FY2018 | 166 | 45 | 89 | 121 | 146 | 2 |
| FY2019 | 145 | 51 | 92 | 104 | 111 | -2 |
| FY2020 | 137 | 38 | 78 | 97 | 89 | -10 |
| FY2021 | 412 | 169 | 162 | 418 | 360 | 2 |
| FY2022 | 200 | 68 | 12 | 256 | 133 | 4 |
| FY2023 | 345 | 85 | 23 | 407 | 377 | 2 |
| FY2024 | 378 | 29 | 20 | 387 | 501 | 3 |
| FY2025 | 335 | 309 | 32 | 611 | 695 | 1 |
| FY2026 | 204 | 405 | 17 | 593 | 690 | 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.