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 | 69 | 43 | 62 | 50 | 23 | 39 |
| FY2016 | 67 | 57 | 67 | 58 | 18 | 35 |
| FY2017 | 56 | 60 | 73 | 43 | 21 | 46 |
| FY2018 | 91 | 59 | 79 | 71 | 58 | 27 |
| FY2019 | 85 | 86 | 91 | 79 | 50 | 24 |
| FY2020 | 121 | 91 | 87 | 124 | 65 | 11 |
| FY2021 | 139 | 141 | 102 | 178 | 73 | 5 |
| FY2022 | 105 | 141 | 81 | 165 | 55 | 12 |
| FY2023 | 97 | 119 | 72 | 144 | 49 | 5 |
| FY2024 | 100 | 139 | 102 | 137 | 19 | 3 |
| FY2025 | 83 | 139 | 97 | 125 | 20 | 6 |
| FY2026 | 80 | 106 | 81 | 105 | 27 | 6 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.