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 | 100 | 248 | 84 | 264 | 26 | 22 |
| FY2016 | 97 | 248 | 88 | 257 | 34 | 19 |
| FY2017 | 98 | 282 | 104 | 275 | -14 | 9 |
| FY2018 | 104 | 263 | 121 | 246 | 39 | 8 |
| FY2019 | 94 | 273 | 111 | 256 | 65 | 13 |
| FY2020 | 105 | 230 | 100 | 235 | 59 | 11 |
| FY2021 | 95 | 273 | 109 | 259 | 57 | 16 |
| FY2022 | 113 | 250 | 111 | 252 | 61 | 14 |
| FY2023 | 107 | 232 | 108 | 231 | 84 | 27 |
| FY2024 | 105 | 283 | 116 | 271 | 118 | 27 |
| FY2025 | 101 | 260 | 97 | 264 | 69 | 23 |
| FY2026 | 110 | 228 | 91 | 247 | 68 | 13 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.