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 | 122 | 258 | 43 | 337 | 105 | 10 |
| FY2016 | 138 | 306 | 49 | 396 | 131 | 4 |
| FY2017 | 127 | 373 | 54 | 446 | 128 | 8 |
| FY2018 | 128 | 413 | 88 | 453 | 139 | 2 |
| FY2019 | 122 | 621 | 79 | 664 | 118 | 6 |
| FY2020 | 121 | 725 | 158 | 688 | 68 | 3 |
| FY2021 | 131 | 759 | 150 | 739 | 115 | 4 |
| FY2022 | 119 | 793 | 148 | 764 | 151 | 5 |
| FY2023 | 137 | 1,299 | 233 | 1,204 | 210 | 2 |
| FY2024 | 117 | 1,623 | 306 | 1,435 | 220 | 5 |
| FY2025 | 104 | 1,342 | 307 | 1,139 | 232 | 2 |
| FY2026 | 112 | 2,640 | 563 | 2,189 | 352 | 1 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.