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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2011 | 60 | 272 | 172 | 160 | -52 | — |
| FY2017 | 61 | 473 | 95 | 439 | 35 | — |
| FY2018 | 96 | 525 | 201 | 419 | 44 | 5 |
| FY2019 | 79 | 496 | 176 | 399 | 43 | 6 |
| FY2020 | 103 | 462 | 226 | 340 | -10 | 4 |
| FY2021 | 80 | 402 | 132 | 350 | -2 | 0 |
| FY2022 | 81 | 526 | 158 | 449 | -8 | 1 |
| FY2023 | 89 | 568 | 155 | 502 | -37 | 1 |
| FY2024 | 68 | 540 | 149 | 458 | -148 | 0 |
| FY2025 | 90 | 655 | 168 | 577 | -35 | 2 |
| FY2026 | 84 | 910 | 189 | 805 | -60 | 3 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.