Gkw Limited
Ratios
Working-Capital Days
Number of daysDebtor DaysInventory DaysDays Payable
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.
Return on Capital Employed
ROCE, in %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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2006 | 43.24 | 205 | 413 | -164 | -47.64 | — |
| FY2007 | 78.17 | 164 | 374 | -132 | 4 | 6.97 |
| FY2008 | 84.14 | 222 | 289 | 17.28 | -17.11 | 3.34 |
| FY2009 | 2.30 | 36.19 | 59.19 | -20.71 | -14.18 | 9.61 |
| FY2010 | 23.53 | 576 | 1,081 | -481 | 16.60 | 41.62 |
| FY2011 | 22.51 | 88.93 | 45.72 | 65.71 | -13.70 | 45.04 |
| FY2012 | 55.79 | 48.77 | 55.47 | 49.09 | 8.76 | 9 |
| FY2013 | 19.15 | 27.81 | 35.79 | 11.17 | -55.55 | 19.23 |
| FY2014 | 27.37 | 31.76 | 45.09 | 14.04 | -123 | 4.86 |
| FY2015 | 143 | — | — | 143 | -383 | 1.59 |
| FY2016 | 10.97 | — | — | 10.97 | -372 | 2.77 |
| FY2017 | 3.12 | — | — | 3.12 | -297 | 4.86 |
Understanding these terms
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.
- Debtor Days
- The average number of days the company takes to collect payment from its customers after a sale.How a beginner reads it: A beginner reads fewer days as cash coming in faster. A rising trend can mean customers are taking longer to pay, which ties up cash; readers compare it to the company's own past and to peers.
- Inventory Days
- The average number of days goods sit as inventory before being sold.How a beginner reads it: A beginner reads lower inventory days as stock moving quickly. A rising trend can signal slowing sales or overstocking; the right level varies a lot by industry, so comparison matters.
- Days Payable
- The average number of days the company takes to pay its own suppliers.How a beginner reads it: A beginner reads more days as the company holding onto cash longer — useful, within reason. Reading it next to debtor days shows whether the company collects from customers faster than it pays suppliers.
- Cash Conversion Cycle
- The number of days it takes to turn money spent on inventory back into cash from customers: inventory days plus debtor days minus days payable.How a beginner reads it: A beginner reads a shorter cycle as cash being tied up for less time. A negative cycle — paying suppliers after collecting from customers — is generally a sign of strong working-capital efficiency.
- Working Capital Days
- How many days of sales are tied up in the day-to-day running of the business (receivables and inventory, net of payables).How a beginner reads it: A beginner watches the trend: fewer days means less cash locked into operations. A steadily rising figure can mean growth is consuming more and more cash to sustain.
- ROCE %
- Return on Capital Employed — operating profit as a percentage of the total capital (equity plus debt) the business uses. It measures how efficiently the company turns all its capital into operating profit.How a beginner reads it: A beginner uses ROCE to judge how well a company uses every rupee of capital, regardless of how it is financed. Consistency over many years often matters more to readers than a single high year.