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 | 31 | 136 | 83 | 84 | -53 | 2 |
| FY2016 | 70 | 192 | 84 | 178 | -93 | 2 |
| FY2017 | 48 | 117 | 42 | 123 | -38 | 6 |
| FY2018 | 60 | 111 | 36 | 135 | -29 | 6 |
| FY2019 | 50 | 133 | 75 | 107 | -56 | 10 |
| FY2020 | 50 | 111 | 76 | 86 | -68 | 8 |
| FY2021 | 60 | 108 | 88 | 80 | -77 | 8 |
| FY2022 | 41 | 67 | 47 | 61 | -20 | 17 |
| FY2023 | 40 | 91 | 46 | 84 | -10 | 10 |
| FY2024 | 48 | 69 | 33 | 84 | 1 | 12 |
| FY2025 | 45 | 103 | 42 | 106 | 4 | 7 |
| FY2026 | 52 | 114 | 58 | 109 | 13 | 11 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.