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 | 262 | 8 | 248 | 22 | 59 | 4 |
| FY2016 | 296 | 5 | 276 | 24 | 66 | 10 |
| FY2017 | 230 | 13 | 303 | -60 | 17 | 10 |
| FY2018 | 332 | 9 | 278 | 63 | -18 | 10 |
| FY2019 | 322 | 7 | 257 | 72 | -49 | 8 |
| FY2020 | 119 | 10 | 259 | -130 | -68 | 5 |
| FY2021 | 259 | 25 | 687 | -403 | -136 | -6 |
| FY2022 | 218 | 18 | 410 | -173 | -124 | 4 |
| FY2023 | 306 | 28 | 752 | -418 | -203 | -11 |
| FY2024 | 209 | 19 | 521 | -293 | -214 | -15 |
| FY2025 | 288 | 10 | 892 | -594 | -1,294 | -25 |
| FY2026 | 106 | 6 | 684 | -572 | 1,287 | -27 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.