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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2008 | 37 | 131 | 107 | 61 | 75 | 5 |
| FY2009 | 25 | 69 | 89 | 4 | 31 | -11 |
| FY2010 | 19 | 59 | 90 | -12 | 52 | 0 |
| FY2011 | 15 | 84 | 85 | 14 | -9 | 8 |
| FY2012 | 25 | 49 | 101 | -27 | -124 | -17 |
| FY2013 | 20 | 69 | 100 | -11 | -134 | 5 |
| FY2014 | 11 | 49 | 66 | -6 | -128 | 10 |
| FY2015 | 13 | 36 | 104 | -55 | -229 | 1 |
| FY2016 | 21 | 30 | 58 | -7 | -387 | -3 |
| FY2017 | 18 | 36 | 77 | -24 | -444 | -3 |
| FY2018 | 7 | 25 | 66 | -34 | -699 | — |
| FY2019 | 9 | 13 | 143 | -121 | -1,491 | — |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.