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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2006 | 188 | 1,458 | 1,820 | -173 | 811 | — |
| FY2007 | 162 | 1,181 | 641 | 701 | 1,364 | -5.24 |
| FY2008 | 101 | 1,310 | 835 | 576 | 1,345 | -5.24 |
| FY2009 | 290 | 3,809 | 2,026 | 2,073 | 4,846 | -6.24 |
| FY2010 | 5,183 | 58,692 | 15,184 | 48,691 | 98,185 | 3.60 |
| FY2011 | -6,296 | 12,986 | 1,691 | 5,000 | 41,428 | 1.62 |
| FY2012 | — | — | — | — | — | -0.37 |
| FY2013 | — | — | — | — | — | -7.84 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.