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 | 28 | 98 | 149 | -24 | -9 | 10 |
| 2015Dec | 35 | 152 | 296 | -109 | -73 | 10 |
| 2016Dec | 36 | 142 | 260 | -82 | -48 | 8 |
| 2017Dec | 34 | 128 | 204 | -42 | -20 | 12 |
| 2018Dec | 34 | 123 | 169 | -12 | -18 | 14 |
| 2019Dec | 34 | 103 | 144 | -7 | -31 | 11 |
| 2020Dec | 43 | 131 | 190 | -16 | -44 | 4 |
| 2021Dec | 36 | 148 | 212 | -28 | -45 | 11 |
| 2022Dec | 36 | 93 | 163 | -35 | -34 | 15 |
| 2023Dec | 25 | 86 | 144 | -32 | -38 | 18 |
| 2024Dec | 26 | 85 | 124 | -13 | -2 | 17 |
| 2025Dec | 24 | 86 | 143 | -33 | -16 | 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.