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 | 24 | 104 | 120 | 8 | -32 | 8 |
| FY2016 | 18 | 110 | 119 | 9 | -90 | 3 |
| FY2017 | 23 | 98 | 40 | 81 | 39 | 6 |
| FY2018 | 23 | 112 | 42 | 93 | 40 | 15 |
| FY2019 | 17 | 123 | 40 | 99 | 47 | 21 |
| FY2020 | 20 | 112 | 36 | 96 | 50 | 15 |
| FY2021 | 25 | 100 | 38 | 87 | 52 | 34 |
| FY2022 | 24 | 133 | 81 | 76 | 38 | 54 |
| FY2023 | 19 | 88 | 57 | 50 | 34 | 27 |
| FY2024 | 14 | 111 | 65 | 60 | 53 | 29 |
| FY2025 | 9 | 114 | 57 | 67 | 43 | 23 |
| FY2026 | 9 | 124 | 59 | 73 | 40 | 21 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.