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 | Cash Conversion Cycle | Working Capital Days | ROCE % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | 78 | — | 78 | -32 | 3 |
| FY2016 | 83 | — | 83 | -13 | 8 |
| FY2017 | 84 | — | 84 | -5 | 17 |
| FY2018 | 108 | — | 108 | -10 | 6 |
| FY2019 | 93 | — | 93 | -47 | 13 |
| FY2020 | 91 | — | 91 | 15 | 18 |
| FY2021 | 77 | — | 77 | 21 | 20 |
| FY2022 | 71 | — | 71 | 36 | 23 |
| FY2023 | 83 | — | 83 | 32 | 21 |
| FY2024 | 35 | — | 35 | 0 | 17 |
| FY2025 | 32 | — | 32 | -12 | 19 |
| FY2026 | 53 | 0 | 53 | 179 | 17 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.