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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014Dec | 91 | 641 | 236 | 496 | 8 | 5 |
| 2015Dec | 39 | 530 | 340 | 229 | -34 | 14 |
| 2016Dec | 27 | 61 | 340 | -252 | -36 | 19 |
| 2017Dec | 42 | 92 | 363 | -229 | -38 | 24 |
| FY2019 | 50 | 75 | 171 | -45 | 32 | 20 |
| FY2020 | 75 | 99 | 225 | -51 | -21 | 15 |
| FY2021 | 71 | 144 | 311 | -96 | 2 | 10 |
| FY2022 | 60 | 118 | 276 | -99 | -19 | 14 |
| FY2023 | 77 | 119 | 275 | -78 | -35 | 19 |
| FY2024 | 57 | 86 | 179 | -36 | -26 | 27 |
| FY2025 | 39 | 73 | 232 | -120 | -8 | 28 |
| FY2026 | 47 | 82 | 238 | -110 | 6 | 33 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.