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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014Dec | 139 | 229 | 67 | 302 | 144 | 16 |
| FY2016 | 75 | 130 | 80 | 125 | 45 | 41 |
| FY2017 | 82 | 198 | 114 | 166 | 14 | 9 |
| FY2018 | 64 | 398 | 264 | 199 | 48 | 6 |
| FY2019 | 61 | 516 | 182 | 396 | 136 | 4 |
| FY2020 | 97 | 471 | 83 | 486 | 218 | 18 |
| FY2021 | 79 | 273 | 47 | 305 | 156 | 12 |
| FY2022 | 58 | 288 | 37 | 309 | 132 | 28 |
| FY2023 | 84 | 397 | 91 | 391 | 164 | 30 |
| FY2024 | 51 | 401 | 51 | 401 | 157 | 22 |
| FY2025 | 71 | 413 | 81 | 403 | 128 | 1 |
| FY2026 | 35 | 164 | 56 | 144 | 41 | 6 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.