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 | 194 | 128 | 202 | 120 | 84 | 5 |
| FY2016 | 144 | 59 | 132 | 71 | 47 | 5 |
| FY2017 | 124 | 83 | 130 | 77 | 283 | -4 |
| FY2018 | 109 | 85 | 130 | 64 | -53 | -1 |
| FY2019 | 77 | 84 | 162 | -1 | -96 | 2 |
| FY2020 | 37 | 42 | 143 | -63 | -285 | -4 |
| FY2021 | 72 | 79 | 191 | -40 | -207 | 8 |
| FY2022 | 63 | 48 | 107 | 3 | -62 | 42 |
| FY2023 | 68 | 41 | 94 | 15 | 4 | 61 |
| FY2024 | 70 | 49 | 98 | 21 | 8 | 47 |
| FY2025 | 74 | 60 | 99 | 35 | 16 | 37 |
| FY2026 | 86 | 67 | 105 | 48 | 70 | 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.