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 | 54 | 175 | 80 | 149 | 20 | -2 |
| FY2016 | 60 | 231 | 85 | 206 | 0 | 1 |
| FY2017 | 59 | 250 | 59 | 250 | 2 | 2 |
| FY2018 | 50 | 280 | 68 | 262 | -28 | 2 |
| FY2019 | 55 | 260 | 86 | 229 | -14 | 0 |
| FY2020 | 49 | 281 | 110 | 221 | -26 | -1 |
| FY2021 | 57 | 246 | 99 | 204 | -52 | 4 |
| FY2022 | 69 | 186 | 106 | 149 | -67 | 2 |
| FY2023 | 62 | 215 | 88 | 189 | -75 | 6 |
| FY2024 | 58 | 226 | 92 | 192 | -71 | 6 |
| FY2025 | 66 | 244 | 90 | 220 | -16 | 0 |
| FY2026 | 58 | 149 | 39 | 169 | -79 | -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.