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 | 119 | 85 | 165 | 39 | 10 | 13 |
| FY2016 | 122 | 81 | 144 | 58 | 19 | 14 |
| FY2017 | 105 | 68 | 100 | 73 | 29 | 16 |
| FY2018 | 102 | 67 | 82 | 86 | 31 | 16 |
| FY2019 | 99 | 65 | 78 | 87 | 37 | 16 |
| FY2020 | 105 | 67 | 89 | 82 | 33 | 16 |
| FY2021 | 123 | 88 | 78 | 134 | 70 | 13 |
| FY2022 | 107 | 74 | 72 | 110 | 47 | 13 |
| FY2023 | 103 | 55 | 70 | 88 | 49 | 14 |
| FY2024 | 96 | 49 | 68 | 77 | 43 | 15 |
| FY2025 | 95 | 41 | 60 | 77 | 39 | 16 |
| FY2026 | 84 | 54 | 68 | 70 | 40 | 18 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.