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 | 47 | 96 | 131 | 12 | 11 | 19 |
| FY2016 | 52 | 98 | 135 | 15 | 24 | 15 |
| FY2017 | 59 | 88 | 150 | -3 | 40 | 18 |
| FY2018 | 52 | 109 | 162 | -2 | 27 | 23 |
| FY2019 | 50 | 127 | 147 | 30 | 42 | 23 |
| FY2020 | 48 | 109 | 135 | 22 | 65 | 26 |
| FY2021 | 14 | 98 | 110 | 2 | 64 | 32 |
| FY2022 | 5 | 94 | 100 | -1 | 41 | 35 |
| FY2023 | 7 | 69 | 83 | -7 | 37 | 38 |
| FY2024 | 23 | 102 | 119 | 6 | 46 | 26 |
| FY2025 | 19 | 98 | 123 | -7 | 28 | 23 |
| FY2026 | 24 | 111 | 136 | -1 | 35 | 22 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.