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 | 23 | 41 | 96 | -31 | -35 | 28 |
| FY2016 | 2 | 33 | 77 | -42 | -47 | 51 |
| FY2017 | 3 | 33 | 75 | -40 | -55 | 53 |
| FY2018 | 3 | 31 | 92 | -58 | -64 | 49 |
| FY2019 | 3 | 46 | 89 | -40 | -42 | 41 |
| FY2020 | 3 | 42 | 74 | -28 | -44 | 25 |
| FY2021 | 7 | 62 | 108 | -39 | -30 | 17 |
| FY2022 | 11 | 69 | 110 | -29 | -15 | 18 |
| FY2023 | 9 | 57 | 80 | -14 | -14 | 27 |
| FY2024 | 8 | 57 | 85 | -19 | 5 | 31 |
| FY2025 | 11 | 55 | 90 | -24 | 31 | 30 |
| FY2026 | 6 | 55 | 76 | -16 | 22 | 31 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.