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 | 50 | 300 | 13 | 337 | 152 | 13 |
| FY2016 | 65 | 186 | 10 | 240 | 120 | 15 |
| FY2017 | 61 | 288 | 10 | 339 | 139 | 21 |
| FY2018 | 62 | 197 | 16 | 243 | 107 | 25 |
| FY2019 | 46 | 231 | 15 | 262 | 113 | 26 |
| FY2020 | 66 | 308 | 12 | 362 | 168 | 15 |
| FY2021 | 82 | 204 | 17 | 269 | 122 | 30 |
| FY2022 | 44 | 179 | 10 | 213 | 92 | 30 |
| FY2023 | 39 | 138 | 9 | 168 | 72 | 36 |
| FY2024 | 42 | 233 | 9 | 265 | 115 | 32 |
| FY2025 | 47 | 266 | 11 | 302 | 120 | 28 |
| FY2026 | 39 | 313 | 10 | 341 | 120 | 28 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.