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 | 140 | 247 | 379 | 8 | 47 | 16 |
| FY2016 | 120 | 249 | 308 | 61 | 51 | 19 |
| FY2017 | 97 | 299 | 243 | 152 | 125 | 21 |
| FY2018 | 94 | 244 | 225 | 113 | 99 | 15 |
| FY2019 | 81 | 244 | 241 | 85 | 64 | 15 |
| FY2020 | 83 | 211 | 210 | 84 | 54 | 14 |
| FY2021 | 86 | 230 | 226 | 90 | 67 | 15 |
| FY2022 | 92 | 208 | 190 | 110 | 65 | 16 |
| FY2023 | 115 | 203 | 172 | 147 | 141 | 10 |
| FY2024 | 57 | 208 | 210 | 56 | -2 | 12 |
| FY2025 | 92 | 254 | 256 | 90 | 44 | 19 |
| FY2026 | 107 | 264 | 288 | 83 | 81 | 40 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.