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 | 97 | 100 | 76 | 121 | 39 | 0 |
| FY2016 | 106 | 90 | 68 | 129 | 40 | 6 |
| FY2017 | 121 | 91 | 63 | 149 | 65 | 6 |
| FY2018 | 158 | 66 | 112 | 112 | 80 | 4 |
| FY2019 | 139 | 92 | 96 | 135 | 103 | 3 |
| FY2020 | 191 | 148 | 127 | 212 | 207 | 2 |
| FY2021 | 354 | 208 | 167 | 395 | 386 | 2 |
| FY2022 | 297 | 190 | 107 | 380 | 307 | 5 |
| FY2023 | 182 | 188 | 125 | 245 | 196 | 4 |
| FY2024 | 89 | 261 | 126 | 224 | 184 | -6 |
| FY2025 | 58 | 249 | 143 | 164 | 122 | -2 |
| FY2026 | 48 | 180 | 100 | 127 | 119 | 7 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.