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 | 71 | 130 | 93 | 108 | 25 | 9 |
| FY2016 | 72 | 145 | 92 | 125 | 29 | 11 |
| FY2017 | 103 | 179 | 150 | 132 | 35 | 14 |
| FY2018 | 127 | 164 | 177 | 114 | 36 | 16 |
| FY2019 | 123 | 174 | 192 | 105 | 20 | 9 |
| FY2020 | 112 | 149 | 159 | 102 | 39 | 11 |
| FY2021 | 119 | 142 | 134 | 126 | 76 | 12 |
| FY2022 | 109 | 123 | 105 | 127 | 100 | 10 |
| FY2023 | 97 | 88 | 106 | 80 | 83 | -6 |
| FY2024 | 97 | 103 | 106 | 93 | 128 | 1 |
| FY2025 | 117 | 134 | 160 | 91 | 95 | 2 |
| FY2026 | 109 | 116 | 131 | 94 | 92 | 3 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.