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 | 16 | 757 | 39 | 734 | 109 | 4 |
| FY2016 | 33 | 485 | 50 | 468 | 98 | 6 |
| FY2017 | 24 | 296 | 27 | 293 | 68 | 12 |
| FY2018 | 17 | 188 | 28 | 176 | 71 | 8 |
| FY2019 | 42 | 529 | 95 | 476 | 115 | 7 |
| FY2020 | 43 | 330 | 21 | 352 | 91 | 8 |
| FY2021 | 38 | 339 | 20 | 356 | 96 | 7 |
| FY2022 | 63 | 255 | 22 | 296 | 81 | 7 |
| FY2023 | 20 | 205 | 17 | 209 | 85 | 12 |
| FY2024 | 22 | 247 | 19 | 249 | 101 | 12 |
| FY2025 | 14 | 277 | 27 | 263 | 142 | 9 |
| FY2026 | 6 | 142 | 9 | 138 | 94 | 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.