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 | 91 | 84 | 141 | 34 | 22 | 17 |
| FY2016 | 78 | 72 | 130 | 20 | 5 | 28 |
| FY2017 | 95 | 102 | 181 | 15 | 22 | 31 |
| FY2018 | 109 | 98 | 207 | 0 | 21 | 27 |
| FY2019 | 98 | 74 | 188 | -16 | 6 | 30 |
| FY2020 | 93 | 85 | 182 | -4 | 13 | 28 |
| FY2021 | 106 | 119 | 231 | -6 | 25 | 22 |
| FY2022 | 99 | 108 | 207 | 1 | 27 | 27 |
| FY2023 | 81 | 85 | 172 | -5 | 18 | 51 |
| FY2024 | 89 | 83 | 140 | 32 | 50 | 44 |
| FY2025 | 80 | 82 | 137 | 25 | 39 | 33 |
| FY2026 | 85 | 84 | 138 | 30 | 43 | 32 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.