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 | 30 | 32 | 94 | -31 | -10 | — |
| FY2016 | 44 | 34 | 134 | -56 | -27 | -5 |
| FY2017 | 76 | 28 | 465 | -360 | -58 | -7 |
| FY2018 | 48 | 1 | 541 | -492 | -6 | 10 |
| FY2019 | 72 | 1 | 342 | -269 | 11 | 4 |
| FY2020 | 42 | 2 | 183 | -140 | -59 | -1 |
| FY2021 | 29 | 4 | 56 | -23 | -88 | 3 |
| FY2022 | 26 | — | — | 26 | -115 | 5 |
| FY2023 | 29 | — | — | 29 | -300 | 0 |
| FY2024 | 18 | — | — | 18 | -249 | 11 |
| FY2025 | 22 | — | — | 22 | -217 | 5 |
| FY2026 | 23 | — | — | 23 | -192 | 12 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.