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 | 100 | 152 | 237 | 15 | 62 | 43 |
| FY2016 | 118 | 216 | 302 | 32 | 22 | 40 |
| FY2017 | 116 | 138 | 243 | 12 | 26 | 35 |
| FY2018 | 114 | 137 | 273 | -22 | 25 | 22 |
| FY2019 | 108 | 43 | 251 | -99 | 33 | 19 |
| FY2020 | 92 | 58 | 311 | -161 | 48 | 14 |
| FY2021 | 119 | 103 | 432 | -211 | 75 | 6 |
| FY2022 | 108 | 73 | 348 | -167 | 70 | 10 |
| FY2023 | 71 | 54 | 346 | -222 | 72 | 17 |
| FY2024 | 104 | 58 | 425 | -264 | 150 | 16 |
| FY2025 | 168 | 46 | 377 | -163 | 169 | 18 |
| FY2026 | 151 | 53 | 377 | -173 | 128 | 15 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.