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 | 144 | 186 | 306 | 23 | -35 | 3 |
| FY2016 | 119 | 61 | 170 | 10 | 21 | 4 |
| FY2017 | 130 | 211 | 387 | -46 | 54 | 8 |
| FY2018 | 142 | 112 | 306 | -53 | 115 | 13 |
| FY2019 | 154 | — | — | 154 | 97 | 14 |
| FY2020 | 136 | — | — | 136 | 85 | 9 |
| FY2021 | 142 | — | — | 142 | 22 | 12 |
| FY2022 | 137 | — | — | 137 | -107 | -17 |
| FY2023 | 296 | 128 | 409 | 15 | -943 | -30 |
| FY2024 | 481 | 248 | 739 | -10 | -1,302 | 8 |
| FY2025 | 712 | 641 | 2,085 | -732 | -1,997 | 8 |
| FY2026 | 208 | 61 | 146 | 123 | 361 | 7 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.