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 | 87 | 337 | 165 | 259 | 344 | -6 |
| FY2016 | 34 | 91 | 38 | 87 | 182 | -14 |
| FY2017 | 52 | 80 | 69 | 62 | 49 | -12 |
| FY2018 | 9 | 73 | 24 | 58 | 61 | -8 |
| FY2019 | 13 | 59 | 26 | 46 | 61 | -19 |
| FY2020 | 14 | 77 | 50 | 41 | 54 | -25 |
| FY2021 | 9 | 57 | 29 | 38 | 44 | -6 |
| FY2022 | 4 | 71 | 21 | 55 | 46 | -7 |
| FY2023 | 12 | 69 | 22 | 59 | 93 | -11 |
| FY2024 | 9 | 34 | 13 | 31 | 58 | -3 |
| FY2025 | 3 | 40 | 21 | 22 | 47 | -1 |
| FY2026 | 2 | 44 | 26 | 20 | 16 | 0 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.