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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2014 | 84 | 168 | 38 | 214 | 118 | 36 |
| FY2015 | 90 | 161 | 52 | 199 | 113 | 33 |
| FY2016 | 82 | 125 | 46 | 160 | 112 | 31 |
| FY2017 | 76 | 222 | 48 | 250 | 138 | 34 |
| FY2018 | 79 | 147 | 60 | 166 | 122 | 29 |
| FY2019 | 79 | 137 | 51 | 165 | 145 | 23 |
| FY2020 | 79 | 141 | 64 | 156 | 125 | 26 |
| FY2021 | 64 | 137 | 50 | 151 | 103 | 36 |
| FY2022 | 70 | 148 | 74 | 143 | 112 | 30 |
| FY2023 | 73 | 123 | 62 | 133 | 107 | 27 |
| FY2024 | 72 | 159 | 57 | 174 | 140 | 27 |
| FY2025 | 82 | 132 | 46 | 168 | 121 | 28 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.