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 | 9 | — | — | 9 | -403 | 16 |
| FY2016 | 9 | — | — | 9 | -237 | 36 |
| FY2017 | 11 | — | — | 11 | -322 | 21 |
| FY2018 | 12 | — | — | 12 | -455 | 5 |
| FY2019 | 8 | — | — | 8 | -338 | 7 |
| FY2020 | 9 | — | — | 9 | -683 | 10 |
| FY2021 | 10 | — | — | 10 | -648 | 12 |
| FY2022 | 10 | — | — | 10 | -670 | 26 |
| FY2023 | 15 | — | — | 15 | -755 | 70 |
| FY2024 | 13 | — | — | 13 | -945 | — |
| FY2025 | 19 | — | — | 19 | -1,173 | — |
| FY2026 | 20 | 103 | 1,847 | -1,724 | -1,716 | — |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.