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 | 43 | 47 | 82 | 9 | 20 | 22 |
| FY2016 | 41 | 48 | 87 | 3 | -17 | 22 |
| FY2017 | 50 | 50 | 98 | 2 | -3 | 21 |
| FY2018 | 56 | 49 | 113 | -8 | -9 | 23 |
| FY2019 | 45 | 45 | 98 | -8 | -9 | 25 |
| FY2020 | 36 | 54 | 104 | -15 | -11 | 21 |
| FY2021 | 58 | 62 | 130 | -10 | 13 | 17 |
| FY2022 | 47 | 58 | 102 | 2 | 15 | 14 |
| FY2023 | 48 | 56 | 97 | 7 | 14 | 14 |
| FY2024 | 45 | 52 | 96 | 1 | 10 | 17 |
| FY2025 | 45 | 52 | 99 | -2 | 3 | 17 |
| FY2026 | 46 | 50 | 102 | -6 | 0 | 18 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.