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 | 19 | 243 | 107 | 155 | 4 | 1 |
| FY2016 | 26 | 344 | 77 | 294 | 50 | 12 |
| FY2017 | 17 | 391 | 49 | 359 | 35 | 26 |
| FY2018 | 15 | 189 | 82 | 123 | 16 | 13 |
| FY2019 | 38 | 277 | 72 | 243 | 68 | 20 |
| FY2020 | 18 | 239 | 70 | 188 | 70 | 16 |
| FY2021 | 19 | 251 | 63 | 207 | 80 | 17 |
| FY2022 | 10 | 232 | 29 | 213 | 67 | 16 |
| FY2023 | 10 | 248 | 34 | 224 | 42 | 10 |
| FY2024 | 8 | 268 | 26 | 250 | 60 | 13 |
| FY2025 | 10 | 295 | 26 | 279 | 50 | 10 |
| FY2026 | 10 | 248 | 40 | 219 | 22 | 9 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.