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 | 68 | 453 | 720 | -200 | -20 | 11 |
| FY2016 | 60 | 462 | 777 | -254 | -14 | 14 |
| FY2017 | 58 | 558 | 983 | -366 | -45 | 15 |
| FY2018 | 46 | 628 | 1,036 | -361 | -26 | 14 |
| FY2019 | 37 | 348 | 640 | -255 | -14 | 12 |
| FY2020 | 58 | 606 | 1,190 | -526 | 1 | 13 |
| FY2021 | 50 | 425 | 616 | -141 | 44 | 14 |
| FY2022 | 32 | 559 | 601 | -10 | 71 | 14 |
| FY2023 | 18 | 613 | 941 | -311 | 46 | 14 |
| FY2024 | 25 | 900 | 1,150 | -225 | 55 | 22 |
| FY2025 | 29 | 893 | 1,144 | -222 | 91 | 22 |
| FY2026 | 36 | — | — | 36 | 81 | 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.