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 | 41 | 244 | 165 | 120 | 31 | — |
| FY2016 | 47 | 258 | 113 | 193 | -22 | 5 |
| FY2017 | 26 | 149 | 126 | 48 | -218 | 10 |
| FY2018 | 29 | 126 | 108 | 47 | 158 | 19 |
| FY2019 | 90 | 574 | 136 | 527 | 148 | 45 |
| FY2020 | 138 | 822 | 104 | 855 | 349 | 8 |
| FY2021 | 200 | 1,252 | 236 | 1,217 | 134 | 1 |
| FY2022 | 54 | 490 | 91 | 453 | 61 | 6 |
| FY2023 | 36 | 194 | 64 | 166 | -19 | 1 |
| FY2024 | 11 | 69 | 101 | -21 | -4 | 1 |
| FY2025 | 10 | 78 | 87 | 2 | 28 | 3 |
| FY2026 | 11 | 151 | 122 | 39 | 26 | 1 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.