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 | Cash Conversion Cycle | Working Capital Days | ROCE % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | 57 | 0 | 57 | -50 | 2 |
| FY2016 | 41 | 0 | 41 | -74 | -6 |
| FY2017 | 61 | — | 61 | 181 | -2 |
| FY2018 | 81 | — | 81 | 212 | 1 |
| FY2019 | 77 | — | 77 | 201 | 1 |
| FY2020 | 100 | — | 100 | 221 | 1 |
| FY2021 | 74 | — | 74 | 195 | 0 |
| FY2022 | 78 | — | 78 | 115 | 2 |
| FY2023 | 93 | — | 93 | 109 | 3 |
| FY2024 | 86 | — | 86 | 64 | -1 |
| FY2025 | 79 | — | 79 | 63 | -2 |
| FY2026 | 90 | — | 90 | -10 | -2 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.