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 | 30 | 207 | 102 | 136 | -44 | 9 |
| FY2016 | 32 | 168 | 97 | 103 | -56 | 11 |
| FY2017 | 30 | 163 | 117 | 76 | -19 | 13 |
| FY2018 | 34 | 170 | 146 | 58 | -95 | 10 |
| FY2019 | 32 | 154 | 133 | 53 | -47 | 8 |
| FY2020 | 31 | 179 | 172 | 38 | -84 | 8 |
| FY2021 | 21 | 179 | 229 | -29 | -103 | 9 |
| FY2022 | 21 | 200 | 239 | -18 | -88 | 9 |
| FY2023 | 18 | 180 | 216 | -17 | -75 | 10 |
| FY2024 | 19 | 194 | 221 | -7 | -91 | 9 |
| FY2025 | 23 | 179 | 177 | 25 | -105 | 8 |
| FY2026 | 23 | 130 | 152 | 1 | -81 | 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.