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 | 117 | 318 | 118 | 318 | 32 | 23 |
| FY2016 | 160 | 606 | 218 | 548 | 46 | 18 |
| FY2017 | 235 | 75 | 129 | 181 | 31 | 13 |
| FY2018 | 300 | 169 | 617 | -149 | 84 | 11 |
| FY2019 | 233 | 18 | 1,610 | -1,359 | 30 | 12 |
| FY2020 | 205 | 191 | 1,230 | -834 | 74 | 25 |
| FY2021 | 247 | 67 | 1,367 | -1,053 | 90 | 9 |
| FY2022 | 153 | 16 | 752 | -584 | 118 | 12 |
| FY2023 | 154 | 53 | 403 | -196 | 110 | 16 |
| FY2024 | 240 | 8 | 610 | -362 | 137 | 22 |
| FY2025 | 221 | 5 | 766 | -540 | 109 | 27 |
| FY2026 | 83 | 6 | 1,076 | -988 | 135 | 27 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.