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 | 325 | 280 | 412 | 193 | 141 | -3 |
| FY2016 | 503 | 468 | 610 | 361 | 326 | -3 |
| FY2017 | 250 | 168 | 203 | 216 | -273 | -1 |
| FY2018 | 326 | 245 | 323 | 248 | -222 | 2 |
| FY2019 | 153 | 243 | 330 | 65 | -321 | 4 |
| FY2020 | 149 | 294 | 471 | -28 | -1,307 | -3 |
| FY2021 | 214 | 438 | 523 | 129 | -2,411 | -3 |
| FY2022 | 258 | 1,198 | 1,657 | -201 | -4,067 | -7 |
| FY2023 | 140 | 685 | 987 | -162 | -4,117 | -4 |
| FY2024 | 65 | 500 | 1,122 | -557 | -683 | -119 |
| FY2025 | 86 | 186 | 471 | -200 | -188 | 0 |
| FY2026 | 115 | 94 | 181 | 28 | 27 | -2 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.