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 | 60 | 204 | 57 | 207 | 44 | 13 |
| FY2016 | 53 | 243 | 61 | 235 | 62 | 12 |
| FY2017 | 52 | 248 | 51 | 249 | 59 | 9 |
| FY2018 | 98 | 280 | 122 | 256 | 70 | 8 |
| FY2019 | 60 | 327 | 83 | 304 | 68 | 9 |
| FY2020 | 64 | 369 | 67 | 366 | 61 | 7 |
| FY2021 | 93 | 464 | 113 | 444 | 134 | 3 |
| FY2022 | 68 | 401 | 101 | 367 | 115 | 2 |
| FY2023 | 59 | 423 | 74 | 408 | 115 | 13 |
| FY2024 | 68 | 496 | 134 | 429 | 89 | 7 |
| FY2025 | 67 | 372 | 121 | 317 | 83 | 9 |
| FY2026 | 73 | 309 | 120 | 262 | 81 | 10 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.