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 | 45 | 138 | 141 | 42 | -1 | 11 |
| FY2016 | 49 | 124 | 145 | 27 | 2 | 9 |
| FY2017 | 47 | 127 | 170 | 4 | 15 | 16 |
| FY2018 | 43 | 134 | 174 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
| FY2019 | 46 | 175 | 172 | 49 | 17 | 14 |
| FY2020 | 45 | 131 | 141 | 35 | 36 | 18 |
| FY2021 | 17 | 112 | 124 | 6 | 45 | 21 |
| FY2022 | 9 | 111 | 114 | 6 | 29 | 26 |
| FY2023 | 8 | 81 | 84 | 5 | 27 | 27 |
| FY2024 | 23 | 112 | 121 | 14 | 27 | 20 |
| FY2025 | 20 | 101 | 113 | 8 | 14 | 17 |
| FY2026 | 22 | 107 | 116 | 13 | 21 | 17 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.