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 | 83 | 93 | 178 | -2 | 69 | 14 |
| FY2016 | 93 | 92 | 187 | -1 | 68 | 6 |
| FY2017 | 79 | 102 | 151 | 30 | 6 | 1 |
| FY2018 | 84 | 111 | 150 | 45 | 59 | 7 |
| FY2019 | 93 | 110 | 153 | 50 | 28 | 13 |
| FY2020 | 100 | 138 | 303 | -65 | 8 | 12 |
| FY2021 | 86 | 122 | 290 | -83 | 5 | 6 |
| FY2022 | 72 | 129 | 267 | -66 | 5 | 10 |
| FY2023 | 285 | 612 | 1,400 | -503 | -21 | 3 |
| FY2024 | 23 | 44 | 183 | -116 | 272 | 4 |
| FY2025 | 23 | 36 | 166 | -107 | -32 | 11 |
| FY2026 | 24 | 32 | 168 | -112 | -28 | 11 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.