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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010Jun | 15 | 136 | 76 | 75 | 131 | 9 |
| 2011Jun | 16 | 164 | 94 | 86 | 7 | 9 |
| 2012Dec | 10 | 125 | 67 | 68 | 12 | 16 |
| FY2014 | 12 | 115 | 46 | 81 | 30 | 8 |
| FY2015 | 18 | 168 | 97 | 90 | 55 | 7 |
| FY2016 | 21 | 50 | 46 | 24 | 38 | 6 |
| FY2017 | 49 | 102 | 74 | 77 | 108 | 6 |
| FY2018 | 54 | 112 | 77 | 89 | 87 | 6 |
| FY2019 | 53 | 113 | 88 | 78 | 71 | 7 |
| FY2020 | 156 | 122 | 132 | 146 | -92 | 4 |
| FY2021 | 710 | 399 | 411 | 698 | 113 | -5 |
| FY2022 | 269 | 68 | 181 | 156 | -875 | -12 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.