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 | 6 | 72 | 95 | -16 | -7 | 52 |
| FY2016 | 12 | 61 | 53 | 20 | -2 | 60 |
| FY2017 | 13 | 58 | 55 | 16 | -9 | 57 |
| FY2018 | 14 | 63 | 92 | -15 | -1 | 53 |
| FY2019 | 15 | 73 | 87 | 1 | 9 | 58 |
| FY2020 | 11 | 84 | 108 | -13 | 5 | 39 |
| FY2021 | 9 | 48 | 76 | -20 | -6 | 38 |
| FY2022 | 8 | 57 | 45 | 19 | 1 | 26 |
| FY2023 | 12 | 43 | 37 | 17 | 5 | 21 |
| FY2024 | 16 | 46 | 33 | 30 | 7 | 23 |
| FY2025 | 27 | 45 | 41 | 31 | 21 | 19 |
| FY2026 | 24 | 52 | 34 | 42 | 9 | 30 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.