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 | 25 | 325 | 109 | 241 | 13 | 5 |
| FY2016 | 42 | 437 | 103 | 376 | -37 | 4 |
| FY2017 | 40 | 356 | 120 | 276 | -42 | 8 |
| FY2018 | 40 | 299 | 101 | 238 | -137 | 7 |
| FY2019 | 39 | 161 | 88 | 111 | -116 | 11 |
| FY2020 | 50 | 171 | 117 | 104 | -85 | 10 |
| FY2021 | 60 | 594 | 327 | 327 | -12 | 5 |
| FY2022 | 43 | 335 | 162 | 217 | -15 | 8 |
| FY2023 | 33 | 913 | 318 | 627 | -24 | 8 |
| FY2024 | 28 | 1,952 | 398 | 1,581 | -36 | 6 |
| FY2025 | 30 | 10,759 | 1,622 | 9,168 | 17 | 8 |
| FY2026 | 33 | — | — | 33 | -64 | 8 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.