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 | 53 | 104 | 694 | -536 | -414 | 2 |
| FY2016 | 68 | 82 | 466 | -316 | -373 | -1 |
| FY2017 | 66 | 33 | 366 | -266 | -152 | 7 |
| FY2018 | 75 | 20 | 372 | -277 | -203 | 4 |
| FY2019 | 71 | 37 | 639 | -531 | -373 | 5 |
| FY2020 | 62 | 56 | 605 | -488 | -497 | 6 |
| FY2021 | 117 | — | — | 117 | -907 | 1 |
| FY2022 | 30 | — | — | 30 | -364 | 5 |
| FY2023 | 20 | — | — | 20 | -370 | 4 |
| FY2024 | 20 | — | — | 20 | -215 | 6 |
| FY2025 | 19 | — | — | 19 | -232 | 7 |
| FY2026 | 15 | 201 | 494 | -278 | -202 | 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.